Dog Days

Leadville 2010

2010-08-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Recap

I have to quote Levi when I say "I didn't respect this race enough". I figured that going into this race I had done what I needed to finish in under 9 hours. I was wrong. I didn't train long enough, hard enough or consitantly enough to conquer this bitch of a race.

While I didn't make my goal I did race well. Finishing 189 out of 1600 isn't too shabby. I finished in 9 hrs 18 mins.

Wednesday: Arrived at the Copper Mountain condo and settled in. Walked around the village and made a nice dinner. Slept only 3 hours and spent the entire night sweating and pissed because I wasn't sleeping.

Thursday: Met Drew and Jen in Leadville and went out to the Powerline climb. We rode the bottom of the climb and I was on cloud 9 because it was easy. I thought, "If this is what people dread so much I have this race licked". This would prove to be an embarassing assesment of the race... We then headed to the two feed zones to scope out the situation so that Jenny would feel confident getting from one to the other. After course recon we went to Cycles of Life to say hi to Brian Feddema. Brian and I played soccer together for years and went to the same highschool. His shop is awesome and he was swamped while we were there.

Friday: Slept awesome last night and felt like a new person. Mandatory check-in and race meeting in the morning. Went back to Copper for the afternoon to do final prep. Filled water bottles, organized all my feeds and got the numbers on the bike, jersey and helmet. I was feelign relaxed and confident.

Saturday: Up at 3:15am to eat and load the car. We were on the road to Leadville at 4am in order to place my bike at the start line by 4:30. Drew and I placed our bikes at 4:40am and were about 200 people from the front; great position! Went back to the car to stay warm and get some fluids and energy drink in me. Back to the bike at about 5:45 to wait for the gun at 6:30. Jenny was there to take our warm layers at the start and she snapped some photos.

By 6:15 everyone was getting pretty amped and some people were starting to lose their cool. I think everyone was feeling the pressure of having trained so hard and long for this that they didn't want anyone messing with their idea of how things should be. Some people tried to cut into the lineup and get positioning up front. One guy was actually booed right out of line and lined up significantly further back. Kind of funny...

6:25am and the camera moto crews are at the front and the helicopter is hovering overhead. This was really exciting and it felt like we were really a part of something big! Gun goes off and we all head downhill for several miles to the base of St. Kevins climb. I feel great and Drew and I are consistantly moving forward in the group. There is always ebb and flow but I think we are both generally moving up. The first climbs really aren't bad considering it's so early in the race. We hit the pavement and speed downhill then up a large climb to the top of Powerline. Then down Powerline and to the first feed. It's a crazy scene but Jenny does an awesome job of flagging us down. We spend only about a minute and half at the feed and hit the trail again. Drew and I are both feeling good and make really fast time to the next feed. We arrive at our feed at the base of Columbine 15mins ahead of our 9 hour pace. Jenny just barely made it to this feed because of the enormous amount of people/traffic. She is literally running through the field yelling my name as I bike by. I skid to a stop and she starts throwing all our feed and bottles out of the backpack. She's awesome! We shed our arm / knee warms and vests. We getting going about 2 mins after stopping. Drew and I speed up to the base of the climb. Soon as the road tilts up I know I am in trouble. Drew steadily pulled away from me and I was left feeling like I was going to red line. This is where my mental game started to shift. Watching Drew ride away was really hard and I had to adjust my expectations. I figured that I had to just ride consistent and not try to match anyone else. Near the top Drew passed me heading downhill. When I reached the top I was 3.5 minutes behind Drew. I topped off on water and was flying downhill. This is actually where I started to cramp. I was cramping behind my knees, something that has never happened to me before. I tried to keep good power to the pedals on the downhill and arrived to the feed about 2 mins after Drew had departed. I told Jenny I was suffering. She said Drew was going to ride slow to let me catch up to him. I didn't see him for the next hour. I was having real trouble eating at this point. I was 5.5 hours into the race and could barely choke down the sport beans I had. They were tough to chew and I was ending up with huge slugs of sugar in my mouth. I was also starting to get sick of drinking Gatorade Pro. I have always trained with Gatorade but today I was overloaded. I had a sqeeze bottle of PowerGel and that really made the differance. I arrived back at the Pipeline Feed and Drew was still there. I had made up some time. Jenny asked how I was doing and I told her, "I am fucking suffering". I think that's really exactly what was happening. All I could think about was plain water. Jenny had some and I slugged it down. When Drew and I departed I told him that I was now just riding to finish and that he needed to just ride his own race. He nodded and a mile later he was pulling away. The next few miles weren't too bad and then Powerline. I completely hit a mental wall at the bottom. I had to walk most of the bottom and once at the top (of the bottom) I realized just how much more climbing I had to do. Powerline on the way down is fun and fast. It didn't really hit me that Powerline is a series of three big steps. After topping the first step my heart sank. I spent the next hour suffering and just willing myself ot keep going. I seriously considered sitting down "for just a few minutes, you know, to gather myself" but in the back of my mind I knew that if I sat down it was game over. By the top of power and the decent back to the lake I was wasted. I was starting to gag on sport beans and my PowerGel wasn't much better. Gatorade was also starting to really piss me off. I just kept thinking about plain, cold water. Water. Water. Water. Water. Water.

I took turns spinning and mashing big gears on the pavement climb to the Carter Aid station. The alternating seemed to help as it worked different muscles. When I got to Carter I asked for plain water and they dumped a large glass of water over my head and back. It instantly turned my race around. I jumped away from the aid station and was feeling strong and confident again. It was too late for me to make 9 hours but I was hammering away anyhow. I flew down the descent and hammered away at the flats below town with a group of 5 other guys. On the final climb to town I put it in the big ring and just mashed gears through gritted teeth. When I turned on to the pavement and could see the finish I got tears in my eyes. I felt like giving up so many times and was just so happy to have made it. I blinked a couple of times, clicked in to 44-11 and just hammered the last mile to the finish. I kept going faster and faster and was flying towards the finish. The crowd was going nuts and I felt like superman. I sat up, zipped my jersey and threw my arms in the air.

My immediate response to the race was, I am glad it's over, cross it off the list. Never doing it again. Period.

The next day I reflected on where things went wrong. Mostly training. More dedication to diet and long rides. Next, Food. More gel and fewer chewy things. Also, maybe take an extra mintute at the feed zones to eat a pastry / baked good. Lastly, WATER. Can't go on just energy drink.

By Monday morning I was excited to enter the race again and thrash 9 hours. Hope I get in...

My wife was so awesome and supportive and there was no way I would have done as well without her. She is a constant source of inspiration and was always in good spirits. Thanks Babe! I love you!

So, next year I hope to get in and will beat the 9 hour mark. If I don't get in I already have an alternative race planned, Pierres Hole at Grand Targhee (7000 more feet of climbing than Leadville).

Pictures to be posted on Facebook.

Good ride

2010-04-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day on the bike. 90 miles with 6 guys. Averaged 19 and didn't hit any major hills until the end. Finished the ride with a tour up Bridger Canyon. Windy day. Recovery ride tomorrow and lots of time in the office. Legal paperwork and other not-so-fun activities.

Jenny went road biking in Yellowstone National Park today. It's open only to cyclists right now. 3 hour ride with her sis. She said it was cold but really fun.

This is at mile 75 on Sheeps Hill. I am almost on empty and starting to think about the food in our cupboards. Only held on for a few minutes, lucky for me the few minutes ended at the top... Started to get that barf reflex right as we crested the hill...

Stuff is happening

2010-04-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Riding: Check
Working: Check
Working more: Check
Eating: Check
Sleeping: Sometimes

Life is good. Busy with many, many plans. Finally organized myself and created a Design 5 "to do" list. 47 items that need attention. Good to have all of these items out of my head and on to paper. Time to get out the red pen and check some items off.

Jenny and I have made some fun plans for this summer. First exciting trip is to Moab. We are going over Memorial Weekend. Two and a half days in Moab should be epic. Going to do one big mtn ride and one big road ride. Also two smaller rides with Jenny. I think she is more excited than I am because she has been there and loved it. I haven't been so I don't know what I am missing...

Second fun trip is to MN (for me). Going to see my brothers new daughter who is due in late June. Time with Ben, Erin and Gretta and then some Troy time at the cabin. Bringing my pooch Mario to MN to introduce him to the north woods. He may live there someday so I need to make sure he likes it.

Jenny is spending her July in Alaska, without me. She is leading a hiking trip for NOLS and isn't allowed to carry human and canine baggage with her. Oh well...

Our last fun trip is to the Beartooth Wilderness where we hike each year. Not sure of the route yet. The trip will be four days over the labor day weekend.

Biking is going swimingly. Power is increasing. Time on the bike is increasing. I think it takes me about an hour to warm up on a road ride. This is really frustrating since my friends like to hammer out of the gate. Pain for me, fun for them.

No pics. Too bad for you!

Getaway

2010-01-10T20:21:00.001-08:00

Jenny and I needed some R&R so I surprised her with a trip to Chico Hot Springs. We took off early Friday morning and headed to the Paradise Valley and drove directly to Mill Creek. This is a beautiful east/west valley that sees a lot of logging so there is a great network of roads criss crossing the mountains. We skiied uphill for almost two hours before we took a break. We packed cookies and hot chocolate and enjoyed the views (with Mario of course). We had the entire drainage to ourselves and didn't see anyone until the last ten minutes of the trip, near the trailhead.

After the ski tour we checked into our cabin at Chico, donned our swim trunks and hit the hot spring pools. The air was very, very cold so the pool was very, very steamy. There were not many people around yet so it felt like we had the pools to ourselves. Very quiet and relaxed.

We ate dinner at the Chico Lodge. Jenny had a 4 oz fillet and a 4oz Mahi Mahi. I had the rack of Lamb. Both were amazing. I topped it off with a fresh baked apple crisp. Jenny had a flaming tower of maringue, set on an orange filled with chocolate and vanilla ice cream infused with orange stoli. We found it interesting that they serving a flaming tower of desert inside of a 120 year old lodge with ancient drapes and woodwork...

Jenny discovered that our cabin had a magic tub that shot water jets and bubbles out of its sides. I didn't see her the rest of the evening...

Saturday morning was another big ski tour day. We spent the late morning / early afternoon touring in Emmigrant Gulch. We again had the drainage completely to ourselves. This erea sees no logging and the mountains are much more rugged, despite being only 5 miles south of Mill Creek. We skied on a mine road that was cut in more than 100 years ago. There are three abandoned mines about 11 miles back, near the tops of three different peaks. We skied about 4 miles back to where the roads head straight up the mountain sides. We feasted on more cookies and hot chocolate and watched Mario fall asleep sitting up. It was his third day in a row of major ski trips and he was worn out.

After skiing was again dipped into the hot springs and at some bar food. We finished the trip off with dinner at the Rib and Chop House in Livingston. Great trip!!!!

Today I got out with Ryan for some faster paced training on the skis. We were out for 3.5 hours in the Bozeman Creek Drainage. I burned 2300 calories which meant a guilt free enchilada eating contest this evening.

6 months later...

2010-01-04T19:26:00.000-08:00

Bozeman, we have a problem....

Not really. How can I complain about going on a 40 mile road ride on January 4th with a great friend and training partner? Ryan and I put in some time on the tarmac on Sunday. Quiet roads, blue sky and no mechanicals.

The last six months have been good. Design 5 has been gaining clients and we beat our first year goals and we still have two months to go! We are opening up our marketing campaign to MN so we can spend more time at home. Anyone in MN need landscape design, planning, graphic arts, presentation materials, or anything creative from two talented folks in Bozeman? Check on us at www.design5landscapes.blogspot.com or on Facebook at Design 5 Landscapes!!!! We have a website coming soon as well...

Bike racing in 2009 was almost non-existant. I did three cross races and absolutely sucked wind in all of them. Oh well. What's unfortunate is that the only weakness I can point to is my bike handling. I need to practice, practice, practice! I did make a breakthrough discovery with tire selection. I rode tubular clinchers this season which made a huge diference with handling and grip. "Discovery" isn't right. My brother has been beating me over the head, trying to get me to ride some good cross gear. He has been on tubulars for two seasons and can't believe I was rolling on clinchers. I am slow to change. So, I now have two sets of tubular wheels for 2010. One set of Ultegra tubulars and one set of Zipp 303s. Even so, these nice wheels won't do anything but lose fabulously if I don't seriously improve my handling skills. Timid McGee on the race course.

On the upside, this year was one of the most fun on the mountain bike! The Trek made it through the season without any mechanicals and I flatted only once. I felt like superman in August and was firing on all cylinders on the dirt. Ryan and John were great riding partners and I hope this coming season is as fun. I registered for Leadville 100 and have a couple of connections for getting in... Let's hope they work. I am very excited for it and have set the goal of sub 9 hours. Ryan and Drew are registered as well and everyone is in full training mode.

Christmas was fun and busy, despite having "no plans". Ben and I hit Theo Wirth on the Pugs. That was a real blast and wish we had more time to spend churning snow.

Jenny and I ate a ton of food, enjoyed some time in St. Cloud, went to museums, saw the Bodies exhibit at the MOA, had a sushi blowout at Origami, gorged at Cafe 128, ate Blucys at the Blue Door, swallowed House of Pizza with recklous abandon, sipped on some great Belgian White ales, at approx. 40 peanutbutter / hershey kiss cookies, ate one pan of my moms nut roll bars, hung out with Tomas and my sis, helped Jim and Nancy with a landscape plan, signed wills, visited Granny Franny, saw Mike "The Godfather", watched South Park, went to Avatar, visited the MN Zoo, got my sisters car sideways doing only 20mph, hung with the Hawkins, drove my dads tractor, set up my parents new TV and hardly slept at all.

Hope this finds you all well!

What's tha haps

2009-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

I don't remember a lot of what has happened since the last time I blogged. So, I will just start where I am now...

Heading to MN tomorrow. The BRO is getting married on the 18th. My lovely wife left this morning to drive home with her dad. They are shuttling my road bike home with spare wheels. A friend of mine called for pointers on how to get his wife to drive his bikes around the country while he flies...

This coming week is sure to fly by. Saturday AM road ride with brohonzzle then an evening full of grilling and beer swilling. I have received notice that several people are concerned by the idea of overindulging in barley pop and then riding bikes through the cities. I agree. Outcome to be determined...

Sunday I am accompanying my wife and Liz to the cabin to two days in the north woods. Think I will leave the road bike behind and focus my energy on catching fish and grilling hot dogs.

Back Tuesday for the Tuff Ride. I am scared...

Wednesday is Donut Ride. This is a ride from Highland Park through dowtown Minneapolis, to the Lakes, to Minnehaha Parkway. Stop at Mellow Glaze Donuts for a time-out. This is where I proposed to Jenny so she is really looking forward to the ride.

Thursday Mtn Bike race at Buck. Last mtn race I did was in St. Cloud two years ago. Mike knows how well I did there...

Friday is party night at Gasthous (sp?).

Saturday. Wedding!

Sunday. Recovery ride and grilling.

Monday back to Bozeman.

In biking news:

Managed to shave a full minute off my best time up Hyalite Canyon.

New Zipp 303's are f***ing awesome.

Scored second place at the Beartooth Pass TT. 22 miles, 3,700 ft of climbing.

Strong is building me a new ti cross frame as I am not too psyched with the one I have now. I love the 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Garmin-Slipstream pint glasses showed up today. There are going to make me much faster.

Ben checked out a BMC Pro Machine from Quality for Jenny to ride. Full Super Record and Easton tubulars. 13 pound super bike. Will I be able to get jenny back on her Salsa???

Do you ever get tired of...

2009-05-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

hearing about this economy...these troubling times...due to the economic slowdown...the meltdown....the crisis...the bad credit...the liquidity problems...the golden parachutes...the capital needed...the stress tests...recession proofing...the recession...profit taking...deal seeking...these economic times...

I am ready to vomit. If everyone would just turn off their stupid TVs and stop listening to inflamatory pricks like Savage, Ingrahm and Limbaugh we might all be better off. No one knows what to do, so deal with it. Stop bitching, it doesn't help anything. It's so easy to be critical. We are all professionals at that.

If you are going to argue about the realities of global warming at least know the basic tennants of the argument. I work around a bunch of people who shit on every Democrat / liberal / independants name every time it snows. So much for global warming, huh? Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle... I don't consider myself a crusader, an eco-nazi, a peacenik, a granola, a greenie or even much of a liberal; but I do consider logic and reasoning to be the building blocks of discussion. At least have a clue before you open your mouth and spout off. And racist jokes aren't funny; grow up. Everyone is different, deal with it.

Went around town today and handed out flyers for my new company to architects around town. Some people were genuinely interested and some people just politely smiled through their teeth and showed me the door. I hate being that guy...

On the upside the new team kits arrived a couple of days ago. I like the new design (since I created it) and the gear fits really well. I liked the process of working with Hincapie. The are easy to work with, the design process was easy, you can do any number of colors you like for one price. The downside is that one price is steep. Jersey and shorts for $176.

Biking is not going well this year. I have been too tired to bike most nights and when I do get out and ride I go hard. Right now I really only have a two hour tank and when I hit that mark I am empty. But I guess being able to maintain 170 bpm for 1.5 hours is still ok. Last weekend the GAS boys put the leather to me and made me suffer. Doing 2000 ft of climbing at 18-20mph is NOT easy. At the start of the third climb I waved the group past and limped home. This weekend should be good for riding. The goal this year is to be good middle of July...I have time.

I am going to try to get some office time at the home theater job. I want to set up a complete Autocad library and start to make our drawings look pro. We need to distinguish ourselves from the competition and I think this is one way to do it. I think we should show that we are on the same playing field as architects. Architects convey their thoughts and ideas through drawings and we can do the same. Hopefully less wire pulling for me and more time on the computer.

Well, I am out of finger strength. Little bit of rant in there. Hope all is well !

Shripping the Gnar

2009-03-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday was an epic day at Big Sky. Knee deep for four hours straight on the back side of Lone Peak. For some reason people don't ski the Shedhorn lift. You can do 16 minute laps and hit fresh turns every run. Hit a few spots that were wind loaded and thigh deep. Most of the turns were shin deep and plenty of face shots. Probably my best day in the last three years. I don't think anything will beat the winter of 05/06 when we skied knee deep on 9 weekends.

Spent all night tonight working on Design 5. We are learning a lot about the professional printing process. Been a bit more of a struggle than I anticipated getting our business cards done. I have a lot to learn...

I have been a little frustrated that things haven't been moving more quickly on the new business front. I was venting to Jenny about this yesterday and she assured me that we are making progress. She reminded me that I am working more than 50 hours a week right now and that I can't expect to have energy all of the time. It's also a coincidence that my father in law just sent me some articles about starting a small business while still working full time. Funny how these things work and how peoples timing is sometimes uncanny.

Peace out...

Stuff

2009-03-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

Long week of work. Boring.

Rode the trainer for 1.5 hours last night. Played Elder Scrolls the entire time. Makes the time go really fast.

Out on the road for 4 hours today. Ryan, Randall and I took it easy most of the time and did two intervals at red line pace. After splitting off from those guys I hooked up with the Bozeman Masters Velo crew for another ride to the west. They were feeling fresh and headed west into the wind. I rode with them for 45 mins before returning home. By the time I got home I was almost in the complete Bonk zone. I looked at my watch and it said I had a 155 heart rate average. So... I worked way too hard today and am feeling it now.

Tomorrow is Design 5 day so just a couple hours on the trainer in the morning and then it's computer time for the rest of the day. We are heading to Borders to get a book on Adobe Illustrator so we can nail our marketing layouts...

Mr. Anderson and Kyia are in town so I am going to try and hook up with them on Monday or Tuesday evening if they are free. Big snow on the way and they are hoping to take advantage.

Another slow week of work coming up. Not much on the radar so I feel that my time is either limited there...or... I will be doing crappy busy work until things pick up. I volunteered to take some time off but that hasn't worked out so far. I could really use some time to focus on my new company but Avitel seems content to pay me for busy work...

Headbangers Ball

2009-03-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Lots O Riding this weekend. 2.5 on Friday with JT. Conversation speed for two hours then a couple of seriously difficult intervals before a 20 minute cool down.

Saturday JT and I met up with the Bozeman Velo Masters squad. JT and I both figured it would be a nice rolling day at an easy pace. It ended up being 3.5 hours of smashing heads against brick walls over and over and over... This squad of guys in the 50+ age group can F***ing hammer. I have no idea why I was surprised but I ended the day with a lot more respect for this crew. Of course my own ego got the best of me and I spent the entire ride proving I was the strongest and ended up with two cramping calves at mile 68. I know these guys are over 50 but it was some of the most difficult interval riding I have done in years... At least I am riding well. Really looking forward to getting in some racing. Next week is the first official race in Missoula. Just a 45 mile training race but the big boys will all be there.

Today I got out with John for a little over two hours. Today was the perfect recovery ride. Good conversation and no hammering.

Jenny has also been out on the bike the last three days and is ready for the end of winter. The last few days have been awesome. The sun has shone each day with highs in the upper 50s. Tomorrow it's back to the grind but this weekend should help smooth the transition.

Update

2009-03-17T21:02:00.001-07:00

Work: Working home theater full time. The past couple of days I have been at an airplane hanger working on theater gear. The owner of several Montana banks has a huge hanger at the Bozeman Airport with a house inside of it. It's about a 2,000 sq.ft. house with a bedroom, huge office, 3 bathrooms, two living rooms, a huge poker table and a great kitchen. We were swapping out some theater gear. I took time to admire his float plane which is the largest single engine float plane money can buy. Also checked out the Bell 407 helicopter. His jet wasn't there, but his Bugatti car was. One of only 12 on earth. Amazing what money can buy... Also a spare $75K Escalade parked in the corner...

I have a few more leads for my new company so things seem to be going well on that front. Going to pursue a few projects in the Spanish Peaks so I am excited.

Also, still working Fridays at Bechtle Architects. Suddenly I am working 60 hours a week... Weird to go from unemployment to very busy...

Biking: Been on the roads two days a week now and then gym time the rest of the week. 2.5hours on Sunday. 9mph into the wind, 35 with the wind... Today I did the stair mill for my tempo workout at the gym. 10 min warm up, 40 min @ 170 bpm, 10 min cool down. I was sweating all over the equipment and for some reason people weren't hopping on the mill next to me... wonder why?

Other: Jenny and I had an awesome ski day last Saturday. Two days after a major storm and we still skiied powder all day on the backside of Lone Peak. I love Big Sky for that reason. Worth paying the money to feel like you are all alone.

Jenny has also been getting into the backcountry on her touring skiis. She and her sister and a couple of friends toured into the Mill Creek Drainage in the Paradise Valley. They had a killer warm day and had fun with the dogs.

We bought our plane tickets to get to MN for my brothers wedding. Looking forward to spending 10 days at home!!! Biking, partying and networking are all in the plans.

Also, I am sure that many of you heard that a half block of downtown Bozeman blew up. It's amazing that only one person lost there life since it was at 8:15am on a weekday. Went down to see that blast and it's sad how much that hole impacts the feel of downtown. I found myself feeling very sad for our little town. I love downtown Bozeman as it really feels like a small town and a great community. Apparently, there was an underground crack in a service line and the gas seeped through the dirt and filled the basement of a downtown art gallery. When the manager arrived in the morning the gas exploded and instantly destroyed three buildings. Then one more building burnt to the ground and a fifth was deemed completely unstable from the blast wave. Windows were blown out for three blocks around and the fire burned for two days. They haven't made much progress clearing the wreckage and only one side of mainstreet is open past the site. Very sad.

Weekender

2009-02-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

Only worked for a few hours yesterday and then took off for the day with Jenny to play outside. We went up to Bridger Bowl to ski but cars were parked almost to the highway so we decided to go hiking instead. We hiked up Grassy Mountain for about 45 mins and enjoyed the views. The dogs were happy to be outside and were whipped and tired during the car ride home.

Today I got out for 2 hours on the road bike for an easy spin with Ryan. The sun was out but the temp sat at 30F. Should have known not to ride the roads today since it snowed 12 inches only 36 hours ago. Icey bike but no harm done.

Tonight we are playing it low key, making dinner and maybe heading out for a beer.

Jenny bought some ski boots and poles to go with the CC touring skis that my brother sent out for us. We are heading to Bohart Ranch tomorrow for some time on the snow. Looking forward to a hard workout on the hills...

Home Theater

2009-02-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Some people think I just hook up DVD players and TVs at my job. This is partly true. But for the next two months (if I am working here that long) I will be stuck in a rack room with one other installer working on hooking up a system. This is one of the biggest systems in the US and costs more than ten times what my home is worth.

The pictures below show the progress made in the last two weeks. It doesn't seem like much for 80 hours of work but we have to run one wire at a time and cut each to a custom length. If we didn't it would just end up as a rats nest of wiring and would be impossible to service in the future.

The top two pictures are of the amplifier rack for the distributed audio for the house. There are 18 16-channel amps. There are 200+ speakers in the house plus subwoofers so the system needs a lot of juice. Each channel gets a Left and Right RCA cable, a Left and Right Speaker cable and each amp is connected to the Network with a Cat 5 wire.

The bottom picture is a fully switchable 256 channel audio matrix switcher. There are only 3 of these systems in houses on earth. One is in the Ukraine (oil magnate), one is in the Middle East (oil magnate) and the one here in Big Sky (hotel magnate). This little baby costs 250K and is most commonly used in millitary applications like NORAD where you need to distribute audio and video to hundreds of TVs. Anyway, the switcher lets you send any source to any speaker independently of every other speaker. What this means is that in this house, every single audio zone can play a different source at the same time.

Geeky post but I thought you might like to see what installers really spend most of their time doing.

time for a new post i think

2009-02-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

It's only been a month. Stop hating on me. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

OK. So....

Hmmmmmm....

Home theater work is as busy as ever. We actually scored two new 16,000 square ft. jobs in the past week and a half. Wealthy people have money. If you have $100 million in the bank and you lose 40% of it would you change your lifestyle? Probably not.

Bechtle Architects is picking up steam so it looks like I may be back at the firm for 30 hrs a week. That would be really nice.

I am starting my own company. Design 5. My articles of organization and operating agreement should be filed next week. It's going to be official. And I have three clients!! Yes!!!

So.... If you know of anyone who needs any landscape planning, landscape architecture work, planning work or project installation oversight... CALL ME!!! 406-600-0342. Available for projects in MN and MT.

No tires on the Zipps yet. I am waiting to see if there is a MN connection for rubber...

I am sick right now. That's no fun. Was almost 53F today and I sat on my ass. Oh well.

I spent the last two weekends at the Human Performance Lab at MSU. Dr. Seifert was conducting a study for a sports drink company. I was paid $250, pizza and four other meals. The study was conducted in three parts. First part was a VO2Max test. My max has gone down 6 points, to 56. I should see significant improvement by the end of June with proper training. The first Friday I showed up to the lab, was weighed naked, pissed in a bottle, handed that steamy bottle to a guy with gloves and then had Dr. Seifert shove a large needle into my arm so they could draw blood for the next 4.5 hours. After being prepped I went into a room with nine other bikers and started to bike on my bike set up on a trainer. The company bought two new 42" LCD tvs for the study so we watched Tour highlights. The point of the study was to lose 2.5% of your bodyweight in sweat and then drink it back. It took me 1hr15mins to lose the weight then I had 20 mins to drink three full Nalgenes of water. That sucked. Then I just had to sit around. I had to have blood drawn, pee in a bottle and get weighed every 30 mins for the next 3 hours. After that you get to eat pizza and then take off. I repeated it again last weekend. That's it. Money in the bank. I don't know what the drink was because no one could say anything unless Dr. Seifert and Dr. Heil get favorable results. If the top secret drink didn't help hydrate better no one will ever know it existed....

Jenny and I booked tickets to Las Vegas for early May. I have never been there. We found a screaming deal through Allegiant air. Three nights hotel, airfare and two tickets to Cirque de Soliel for $215 / person. Not bad...

Next trip to MN is in July for my brothers wedding. I looked at the schedule and I think I can make it to 4 bike races. Marty RR, Hopkins Crit, Dakota Crit and Black Dog. Depending on the plans maybe the Tour of Granite Country RR (if they let you only do one stage...)

Peace out....

Forgot one thing...

2009-01-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

Project bike. Arrived in the same box as my new wheels. Hopefully rolling this spring...

Catching Up

2009-01-23T17:26:00.001-08:00

Let's talk about Christmas... Fun, tiring, fattening. Perfect. Spent time in The Cloud, The Cabin and in The Cities. Ate my fill of sushi twice and chowed down on Bravo once with Sean who I haven't seen in....years. The cabin was awesome. Jenny specifically requested that we shoot guns, drink beer, ice fish, hot tub and eat good food. We did them all in classic, over indulgent style. Jenny prefers the .44 magnum pistol to the .22 and wasn't quite ready to fire the Howitzer that my brother refers to as a "rifle".

It's the time of year when I start to talk about cutting back on beer, dropping weight and increasing my training hours on the bike. Well, I am doing it all again but this year I don't expect to do any better than I did last year. Seems that I can train my butt off and still not do any better than the guys who start April 1st. Hopefully my new hoops will help.

Lot's O Changes coming soon. Starting a small design business, maybe getting a Project Management job, maybe starting a Home Theater and Automation design position or maybe just losing it all... who knows?!?! Time will tell...

Make it snow

2008-12-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

She just wanted to make it snow. Is that so wrong?

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/88ca2e8d42/sorority-girl-just-wanted-to-make-it-snow-from-that-happened

Not much..

2008-12-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

...to report. Weather has been incredibly cold and nasty. No outdoor activities for me. Unless you count pulling home theater and automation wire in a 20,000 square foot duplex...

Past week has seen some time in the gym, a few more cans of food at the Food Bank, office party (bowling and drinking), and a play at the Ellen in downtown Bozeman.

This evening I took the Madshus skis out of storage and went through the multi step process of waxing. Ended up doing 6 coats to get them ready. Should be good to go. I don't really trust my waxing job so a trip to Revolution is in order.

Also am getting my ride laced with some new wheels. Zipp 303 custom builds and a set of HED Ardennes. These should endow me with the ability to win races without watching what I eat or training. At least that's what the ads claim... In the end I can probably score the trophy for Biggest Poser. Yes!

Hope to see some folks in Cloud Town on the ski trails... Anyone up for a few loops? Ben? Mike? Kris? Kyia? Crash? Pat? I will be the guy crossing his tips, falling down and generally displaying very poor form. Can't miss me...

Stuff(ing)

2008-11-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day is coming up and the temperature is going down. We purchased our Hutterite turkey and we will be sharing it with some friends up at the Big Sky condo. Big Sky is also supposed to open the day after Thanksgiving. Our Frequent Skier cards give us free skiing for that weekend so we may venture out on the slopes. I am sure there will be only a couple of runs open.

For the first time in my adult life I took some of my money and bought food for people who are less fortunate. Jenny and I bought two turkeys and two complete meals and dropped it off at the Gallatin County Food Shelf. I read in the paper that the food shelf has seen a 30% rise in use in the past 6 months. When we stopped by I was impressed by the size of the operation. Two huge warehouses stacked with huge bins of food. It was also depressing to know that all that food wasn't enough to meet the forecasted demand for the next few months. The past few months have brought a lot of change for Jenny and I and the economy has meant that we have dramatically changed our lifestyle. Though we are secure and safe it has made me realize just how easy it is to go from flush to broke. The older I get the more it's sinking in that there are so many people out there working their asses off for very little income. I feel that since I am doing OK then I have a responsibility to share some of my luck with people less fortunate.

Hope all of you are doing well during the Turkey season and I wish you all the best for your friends, familys and jobs!!!

3 oh 3 and other news

2008-11-16T09:07:00.001-08:00

New wheels are in my future. First pair of tubulars in the form of Z I double P.

Racing yesterday was brutal. I haven't gone hard on my bike for over a month. Jumping right into a race was stupid. But, I finished and I am glad I did it. 8 laps on a really fun course. Mud, barriers, two run-ups and a fun crowd. Lap one I almost threw up twice. Litterally heaved a couple of times. Lap two I promised myself I would drop out when going through the start/finish. Lap three I recommitted myself to dropping out. After lap four I figured I was half way and may as well finish. Just rode my standard race solo time trial. I finished second from last and I guess that's about as much as I expected.

Jenny and Mario were out cheering me on and that helped. I was battling for last place with a Muleterro rider and that ended up being fun as the crowd got into our back and forth racing. At least I was smiling while suffering and providing entertainment for a fun crowd.

My interview with Shealy and Company went well. Wade and I are getting back in touch a month from now when we will discuss the next step in the job process. So for now it's back to home theater in the Yellowstone Club...

No Soup for You!

2008-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

But there is soup for me. My wife made the most awesome, home-made lentil and sausage soup. I am going to eat that soup like there is no tomorrow. She rocks!!

No pictures

2008-11-09T13:03:00.001-08:00

Ended the last post saying pictures would follow. I lied. No pictures of the ride up Hyalite. Was fun though.

Weather here has turned decidedly chilly. I have been working in the Yellowstone Club for the last week and a half and it's snowed every day up there. Little over two feet sitting on the ground now. This week we are finishing up a job with 12 50" flatscreens. Not too shabby.

Started back at the gym last weekend. I am super psyched and focused for this coming bike season. I know that most people haven't finished this season yet but I have been done for a while. I gained 7 pounds and that's all I am going to let happen. Last winter I gained 22 pounds between November and January and that sucked!

When I hit the gym last weekend I was feeling pretty strong because I have been biking a decent amount despite not racing. I saw a scrawny guy put up 940 on the leg sled and it got my ego going. While I couldn't put up that much weight I did make it through 4 sets at 780. What I couldn't make it through was work two days later. My legs were so f***ing mad at me. I had to climb ladders and stairs all day and I swear that I haven't had that much excersize induced pain, ever. I have since calmed down and just done my low weight, high rep workouts. I feel like doing some CC ski racing this year so I have been doing upper body workouts for the first time since college.

I saw John Seifert at the ski swap yesterday and I am meeting up with him at the end of the month for testing. Also participating in a study. Nothing like getting paid a pile of cash for riding a bike for two hours.

Biking Again

2008-10-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Out on the mountain bike yesterday. Did three laps on Bozeman Creek to the bridge for 2400ft of climbing. Felt good.

Today we are riding Hyalite for only the fifth time this season. 9 mile climb. Going to be fun and really cold. Hoping there is no black ice...

Pictures to follow...

Stuff

2008-10-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Haven't been on the bike too much recently. Started a new job this week and I have been pretty tired. Good news is that I don't work on Fridays anymore.

When I worked home theater in the Twin Cities I catered to the well healed and wealthy crowd. Here in Montana, Avitel caters to the ultra wealthy. Can you imagine spending $50 million on a new home that you will use 2 weeks a year? Or can you imagine spending $40,000 on a shower that covers you with 85 gallons of water per minute? Or how about spending $1.5 million on a home automation system? Or maybe putting 140 pairs of speakers in the ceilings of your home?

I can't imagine it either but for people up in the Yellowstone Club and Moonlight Basin it's second nature to spend money. There is something to be said for the "trickle down effect". The house I am working on now has roughly 40 people working full time, 5 days a week to build it. And it's been going 4 years now. That's job security. Not that I am arguing for tax breaks for the wealthy. I am starting to realize that no matter their tax bracket, the ultra wealthy will spend money like it's a problem to have it.

In other news, Bozeman will have a new bike team this spring. The Bechtle Slade team is being replaced by a stronger, more motivated team. We had a pre-team meeting to guage interest on Thursday night and almost everyone on the email list showed up. We have three powerful guys you just moved from SLC (including a former Euro Neo-Pro who raced with Dewey Dickey) and the rest of the crew from last year. We should be able to give GAS a run for their money at the races in 2009.

Past couple of weeks have been pretty busy. My in-laws were in town and we hung out in Paradise Valley for a week. Jim and Nancy are awesome and we had a lot of fund eating and fishing.

Back on the bike today for some serious climbing on the mtn bike...

Tobacco Roots

2008-09-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

Fun weekend in the mountains. Mulv, Katie, the dogs and I went into the heart of the Tobacco Roots for a weekend of camping and mountain biking.

Saturday we set up camp next to Boulder Creek. We were car camping so we had the Coleman double burner and whipped quesadillas. We also put back a few beers and sat around the campfire until it was time to hit the hay.

Sunday we woke up late and made breakfast burritos, got the bikes in order and filled the camelbacks. I bike from the camp spot for an extra couple of miles of climbing and met the ladies and the dogs at the trailhead. The trail to Lost Cabin Lake is 5 miles of perfect single track with an almost perfectly steady grade the entire way. Once at the lake we took a short break and then headed back down. The trail was great. You could ramp up to high speed in just a couple of pedal strokes or just let the bike go and cruise through the pines at a comfortable pace.

The dogs were worn out at the end and I had fun going really fast back down the road to the camp. With the ride finished we packed up camp and headed back to town for burgers at The Garage.

Great weekend with great rides, food, views and people.

Good Times

2008-09-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Cyclocross Time

2008-09-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dusted off the Strong today and put on my new TRP brakes. They work perfect and I can actually undo my brakes to change wheels without undoing allen bolts. Amazing.

Also changed my position a little to better mimick the setup on my road bike. I am further forward and lower down than before. I feel much more "connected" to the front of my bike so handling should improve.

Next weekend I am going to Portland with Jenny. She is getting her Wilderness First Responder recertification during a three day course. I will have a lot of free time so I am going to go to two Cross races and a Kermesse. I will be doing the Hood River Double Cross #1 and #2. The cross season starts the weekend after in Montana so this should be a good introduction. The Kermesse should also be a good challenge. Its a 6km course at the Portland International Speedway. Half the course is fast gravel, the other half is pavement and "rough" pavement. I think that means Cross bike...

LOTOJA 2008

2008-09-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Game over. Mission accomplished.

Ben came out from MN to ride the LOTOJA Classic with me and four other team mates.

Before going any further it must be made clear that Ben is the hardest and most determined bike rider I know. Period. Ben lives at 900ft elevation and came out West to race at an average of 6000ft. He took his asthma and his severe knee pain and put them in his jersey pocket and grit his teeth through 206 miles to finish with us. My helmet is off to Ben for his amazing ride. Next time you see him, slap him on the back and give him props.

The ride was amazing. We started out at 6:30am and finished at 7:30pm. Our actual ride time was 10hrs 50mins. Almost 19mph average over three mountain passes for a total of 8000ft of climbing. Hit a personal speed record of 52.6mph and in the middle of that run did a full on BMX side skid at 46mph when my bike developed a severe high speed wobble. That was the single most terrifying moment of my life...

My friend Steve drove support for us and had full bottles and food waiting for us at the designated feed zones. At the end of the race we all had one tall boy Coors Light which none of us could finish because we started to feel drunk half way through the beer.

I felt great through the whole race and didn't hurt too bad the next day. I have been eating an insane amount of food the last couple of days. Have to cut back on that...

Thanks to Ben, Ryan, John, Drew and Doc for sharing the experience and I hope we do it again. And thanks to Steve for driving support and always showing up with full bottles...

In other news the road scene is over in Bozeman. Tonight was the final crit of the year and our team placed 1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th out of 15 starters. Not too shabby.

Cyclocross starts the last weekend of this month and 12 races have been posted on the calendar. 10 of those are within good driving distance so I may get my fill of cross this year.

Peace out. Troy

Beartooth Wilderness

2008-08-31T07:53:00.001-07:00

Oregon / Washington

2008-08-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

Summer 2008... the rest of it

2008-08-31T07:38:00.001-07:00

Several updates to follow this one. I have some catching up to do...

Following a great weekend at the cabin I retreated back to Montana for some downtime. The next week I was back in MN for some more racing. Did the Tour of Granite Country and was happy to hang in with the big boys. I felt great in all the races but couldn't quite hang the last half mile of each race. I never trained for any fast, flat land racing this year. Next year...right?

Since then the job situation for Jenny and I has changed dramatically. Bechtle Slade PC dissolved (ask me about that sometime if you have a few hours) and we have taken new jobs. Jenny and I will now head up the Landscape Architecture and Land Planning division of Bechtle Architects. I think it's going to be a great place to work and we will have a lot of freedom to pursue work that we are interested in. Jenny would like to focus a lot more on residential design. So please put out the word!!

With the change in the job situation Jenny and I find ourselves with two months off from work! During the past three weeks we took two trips that we had always talked about taking but never envisioned having the time to do. Trip 1 was to the Pacific Northwest for a week of rainforests and beaches. Trip 2 was a week in the Beartooth Wilderness. 6 days of high alpine camping.

Jenny is now back in MN for some quality time with her family while I prepare for LOTOJA. Ben arrives on Thursday and we head to Logan with 5 team mates on Friday. Saturday at 6am our race starts. I believe we will all be finishing the race in good time.

After LOTOJA there is only one more crit race in Bozeman and then it's time for cyclocross! I will probably do three or four races and that will be it for this year of racing.

Friday afternoon I was out riding in my old Grandstay kit and was waiting at a busing intersection. I looked left and saw another Grandstay kit riding up the road. John Seifert, my bike coach from a couple of years ago. He has a position at MSU now and lives in Livingston. We are both excited to work together again and hopefully I can focus and take a step forward in my racing. He said MSU has a world class performance lab and he wants to get some bikers in there.

I hope life is treating you all well...

Troy

PIcture Time

2008-07-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

Ben "Backstedt" Scherer

Will someone please teach this guy to race in his drops!!!

Ever heard of riding outside?

Seriously, get in the drops!

Ok...Ok...Here it goes...

2008-07-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

Been gone a while. Counting this coming weekend I will have been in MN 4 out of the last 6 weekends. Had a great 4th up at the family cabin. Ben, dad and I finished reroofing our section of the cabin and then we drank beer. Ben and I went on a killer 70 mile ride on the north woods highways and kept a killer tempo for most of the ride. Ben is looking stronger and stronger and he should be in fine form by the time we take on LOTOJA. 206 mile race...

My sis and I had some quality fishing time. We caught fish from 2 inches to 18 inches. Check out the photos.

The races at the NVGP were fun. I didn't perform like an allstar but considering they were only my 6th and 7th races of the year I am happy. Since then I have lost 5 pounds and gotten in some considerable training. Rode 107 miles twice this past week and averaged over 20 on both. I feel great and this weekend should be awesome at the Tour of Granite Country.

My brothe may be hooking me up with a TT bike for the race. Will be my first race ever on a TT bike so it will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.

See you all this weekend...

Almost time...

2008-05-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

To do some really serious racing. Problem is the weather in MT has been crap, crap and more crap. Still doing a lot of trainer time. Rained for 5 straight days last week.

Trip to Chicago was awesome this past weekend. Ate nothing but ethnic food and walked roughly 6 hours per day. Good workouts without being on the bike.

This weekend is the hardest road race in Montana. The Wolf Creek race is 87 miles of non-stop rollers. Here's to suffering...

Tough times are hitting the office and a couple of people were let go today including my sister in law Katie. On the up side, she is happy and will probably be heading to Alaska for some time in the mountains as a guide.

Last night I got caught in a hail storm as I was finishing my ride. Had to ride in hail for about 1.5 miles to home. Hail was big enough to cause some red marks on my arms but nothing too painful. The worst storm for me was about 6 years ago on County Road 24 in Medina. I was caught up in a major deluge and hail storm. That hail was big enough to make me bleed and cause some major bruising...

I will be back in MN in two weeks for the NVGP. My brother is taking friday off so we can hang out. Friday AM we are heading to Ohio/Cherokee hill to watch the pro men barf in their time trial. Then it's off to performance testing at St. Thomas to see how powerful I am not. Then downtown crit in the evening. Mankato and Stillwater crits should be fun. I am going to turn inside out to make it through but I am really looking forward to see all they guys in MN.

Until then...

Ramping up

2008-05-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

Starting to feel good now....

Been riding a lot now that the weather has changed. Saturday and Sunday were both solid days on the bike. Ryan, John and I took turns bashing each other over the head with our bikes and called it good at the end of each day.

3.25 hours each day. Funny that both rides were the exact same time, average heart rate and average speed but completely different terrain. Saturday was all climbing in Bridger Canyon and Sunday was flat to rolling hills.

After a brutal race last Tuesday in 25mph winds and 40F weather, I am starting to feel some real fitness. I think the Tuesday night shocker was what my body needed to wake up. The last week has been great and I am feeling ready for this weekends race. Tomorrow night is the Bridger Canyon Road Race and then it's off to Belt for a Saturday omnium race.

TT is 5 miles with 700ft of climbing. Then onto the 62 miles RR with 2400ft of climbing. Should be fun. Hopefully less windy than when I was there two years ago. Better fitness this time around as well...

The last couple of days Jenny and I have hit up the local nursery for some serious amounts of plant material for our back yard. Transformation happening soon... Trees here are budding out and it's finally feeling like the good weather is sticking...

Spring Update

2008-04-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Spring? I am not convinced. It's going to take more than being 50F every other day to convince me that spring is here... The past two weeks has litterally been 55F, next day 3 inches of snow, next day 45F, next day 6 inches of snow...and repeat...and repeat...and repeat...

It's enough for a bike to say F this and migrate south. This time last year I had 5 "around the block" rides in, and at 104 miles each, makes for some great base training. Right now I am good for about 2 hours and then start to fall flat.

I am skiping racing this weekend and heading to West Yellowstone for some quality training in the Park. Although Yellowstone is now open to traffic I expect quiet roads as the tourist season really hasn't started yet. The few blue hairs cruising through town in their 40ft "motor homes" have a glazed and confused look on their face that says "What the F is all this white stuff on the ground?"

My parents were out a couple of weekends ago and we had a great couple of days together up at Big Sky. The annual Pond Skim happened on Saturday at the ski hill. We had fun chugging tall boys in the sun and watching suckers try their luck at skiing across a small pond at the bottom of the ski hill. Sunday was spent on the river and Mulv, once again, was the only one lucky enough to score a fish. I am sure that my dad is starting to think that the fishing around Bozeman is BS. One of these days dad, I swear...

Shout out to the MN bike scene, miss you guys, and it looks like Grandtay is off to a great start!

In other news, Liz is still working hard at grad school. When she was out here she reminded me she was only in her first year of school. I could have sworn it was her second. Ben just got back from running his first dirt demo at Sea Otter. Hanging with pros and industry types and generally having a good time. Yeah, I know its work, but it beats sitting at a computer. Ask him about the blistering attack he chased down when he was out riding with a couple of the Bissel pro guys... Oh yes, my brother is engaged. I guess that counts for something. He and Erin are in Florida and he has managed to come down with severe bronchitis. Poor Erin...

Still waiting for the day when I can take my new mountain bike out for a spin...

Selling bike parts on ebay... I can't believe how low you have to price stuff. Seems like I am the one getting ripped off...

Until next time...

Good Times

2008-03-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Life is slowly starting to seep back into my body. This past week my sister was in town visiting with her friend Kate. We managed to have an excellent time and spent the days skiing, hanging out at a Forest Service Cabin and going out to restaurants. We also made a trip to the Boiling River which seems to be a top weekend priority lately.

Just this past weekend I put in some time on the bike and reaquainted myself with the Pain Cave. The GAS boys are flying and John, Brad and Sebastian are really putting the hurt on the rest of us...

Yesterday, Mulv and I hiked in Emmigrant Gulch which is just to the northwest of Chico Hot Springs. The terrain was rugged and we were lucky enough to have the place all to ourselves. We spent about 3.5 hours hiking and just enjoying the sunny, quiet day.

Back at work for the week and already looking forward to the weekend. Jenny will be out of town so I will be putting in some saddle time. I think the first mtn bike ride of the year will be on Saturday when Ryan and I hit up the Lewis and Clark Caverns state park. Sunday is all about the Century in Yellowstone.

Until then....

Spring?

2008-03-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

I wish it was. Weather here has taken a turn and I am almost ready to hang up the winter gear. My sis arrives out here early Saturday and we are hitting Big Sky for the day.

8 of our grad school friends made it out a couple of weekends ago and we couldn't have had more fun. Pictures will follow...

Today was the last day in our current office. Tomorrow morning is the big move. We have a brand new, remodled office.....50ft away. We are moving into Carl Strongs (custom bike maker) building. We took over the whole first floor and most of the second. It will be a big step up from our current office and we are all going to have more breathing room.

Bike season is in full swing now that it is staying light until 7:45. No comment on the training so far...

Sychronized skiing

Dinner in Big Sky

Oh, the snow

2008-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day, I didn't even have to use my AK.

Office ski day landed on perfect conditions. Skied from 10am to 3:30pm and the last run of the day was in knee deep powder. Had great snow all day and it was still snowing hard when we left big sky at 7pm. Tomorrow is a work day then Mulv and I head to Jackson Hole early Saturday. Mulv is going to hook up with AK and Kev for a half day at Jackson Hole while I train at their CC ski facility. Looking for a good dinner Saturday and then back to training Sunday morning in Grand Teton National Park. Should be a good back drop for a three hour skate ski session.

Mulv and I also visited the condo in Big Sky this past weekend. Fresh pow both days. Saturday was also my first day at Lone Peak Ranch (cc skiing). I did a couple of laps around the golf course and then up to Big Sky and back. 900 ft of climbing and rolling terrain equaited to a 1hour and 50minute threshold skate session. NOT what I was planning on and by the end I was hitting the wall. But at least I know that I can maintain 165 for two hours. Sunday I was back on the spin bike for a long recovery ride.

On paper it seems like work should be slowing down but for some reason I leave work exhausted every day. I have had to do more and more "thinking" at work and less and less drawing. All our submittals are getting more complicated but I guess that means we are doing some interesting projects.

Hope this finds everyone doing well.....

Good Weekend...

2008-01-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was lucky enough to spend my days hanigng out with my most special lady friend. We actually sat around the house on friday and watched a movie! Amazing. Saturday was pretty low key. I fixed the gate on our fence, cleaned the garage and installed our new Swix pro waxing vise. The set up is awesome and I have no more excuses for slow skis or boards. Sunday we woke up early and headed into the Bangtail mountains to hike with the dogs. We hiked for three hours and gained some serious elevation. Hiked to the top of Stone Creek which in the summer is the mountain bike equivalent of Alp D'Huez. Something like 20 switchbacks and I am not sure how many thousands of feet of elevation gain. Once back in cell range I had a message to go riding so I put on the warm gear and headed out on the road bike for the years first rip up Sypes Canyon. Ryan and I are not quite on form yet but it felt really good to be on the road.

This week has been rough at work. Only managed two and a half hours of sleep last night. We gave a killer presentation to try and snag the Bozeman Airport remodel and expansion. Unfortunately we didn't score the project. The whole office spent the last few days working 17 hours a day getting the presentation done. Oh well...

This weekend looks to be mellow again. Probably spend some time up at Big Sky and Lone Mountain Ranch. My first 4 hour CC ski day is set for Saturday. I am not worried about the legs but my arms are going to be in a serious world of pain.

Hope you all are doing well.

Peace Out...

Home on the range

2007-12-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Back home for the holdiays and I could not be any happier. Christmas has come and gone. Several bike related articles of clothing and a few tools were received and I managed to give out a few as well.

It is very unfortunate that Jenny was struck with a stomach virus the day after we arrived home and she is just not starting to recover. She has a lot of catching up to do...

I have been out skiing several times to get in some solid training. Ben and I hit up some night skiing on the North Loop trail in St. Cloud. We skiied on Sunday night in the fresh snow. It was the fastest snow I have ever skiied on and I felt like I didn't even have to work. Next day I went to the golf course on Snelling and Montreal and spent a couple of hours there. I was just about to slit my wrists in boredom when a guy who had already lapped me once came back up and started talking. He was asking a lot about the bike scene and said he had just moved from Golden, CO. He seemed like and solid dude and mentioned riding on the Jamba Juice team with Dougo back in the day... Also hit up the Quarry Park for some more lap skiing. Trail was pretty decent and Ben and I had fun. Hope the Grandstay rider didn't sustain any lasting bruises from the fall by the lot... I apologize if my trying to get your attention caused the pile up...

Today I head out to Highland Park for some good groomed trails. Ben waxed my skis at QBP so I am looking forward to some fast conditions.

It is just our luck that we leave montana for 10 days and it has been getting nailed by storm after storm... Bridger Bowl had 17" overnight. I hope the pattern continues when we get back.

I watched my dad dispense justice in the courtroom yesterday. I would guess that if I ever had to make a court appearance I would want to face my dad. He was always calm, collected and appeared very fair. I also witnessed an incredible display of mullet plumage. I saw the high and tight, flat-top mullet, the bleached Hair Band mullet, the Camaro Mullet and last-but-not-least the "I am going bald but still maintaining my mullet" mullet. Beautiful.

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays. Pictures to be posted later...

I'm sorry, So sorry....

2007-12-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

I would like to formally apologize to my brother Ben for mocking him on my blog. Hopefully he doesn't start a civil suit against me mental anguish.

Sorry Ben. You are really smart, you are really good at stuff and gosh darn it, people like you.
I think Bens retention of all facts, no matter how stupid and trivial, is something special.

Love you Bro!

----Troy

Tis the season....

2007-12-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

For the first time in years I am actually losing weight around Christmas time! I am slowly dropping a pound a week. No more desperately losing weight in the spring. Scored a few more days of paid vacation at work so the bike racing calander is looking good this coming year. I should be in MN for a couple of big races.

Bozeman has a good layer of snow on the ground now and it doesn't look like it will be leaving for a while. Going to try and break out the CC skis this weekend. Scored a free season pass for Big Sky so I will spring for the Long Mountain Ranch CC season pass. Powder skiing in the morning and training all afternoon. Perfect.

I have a lot of Chrismas shopping to do. Typical that I don't have much accomplished at this point.

Thanksgiving was awesome with the family. Spent two days at the cabin and had a great scavenger hunt in the woods. Of course my brother won. Ben also won at knowing more crappy pop culture BS than anyone else in the family. The kid even knows the pitch line for Mabilene products. Make fun of him....

The past couple of weeks have been crazy at work. I spent 120 hours on one project in the last 15 days. Handed it in to the city last night so now the waiting game begins. I think work is going to be insane until the end of January. After that I am hoping for a big slow down.

Hope to see some bike homies around Christmas. Just wondering if the Cross bike should be brought home or not? Any insight? Ben, is there a loner I could use? I think I will just bank on bringing the CC skis home and the bike situation will hopefully take care of itself...

See ya'll soon.....

One step forward and two steps back....

2007-11-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

November first signaled the start of a new season. I only rode my road bike on Tuesday nights after July 1st and spent that balance of my weeks on the mtn bike. The last month has seen a few days on the cross bike but that pretty much ended after the St. Cloud race. I have really enjoyed the last month of beer, steak and slacking.

Facing up to the fact that I want to ride a lot better than this year I have started over with training and have refocused my diet and my attitude. I am stoked that I am only 5 pounds over my race weight now, so with some dedication I should be firing on all cylinders when spring rolls around.

Today started as a great day with sunshine and 60 degrees and a howling wind from the southwest. I rolled out through Gooch Hill, down the south side and into the foothills along the Gallatin Range. Next up was Hyaltie Canyon. About half way up I was open mouthed and gasping for air when I hit some black ice and went down hard. My knee and shoulder took the whole fall and both are a bit sore. My knee took the worst of it and is now missing a nice scoop of flesh. It's deep enough to need stiches but its too wide to do anything.

In other news..... nada. My family seems to be doing well. My brother, sister and dad are all up north this weekend trying to get deer and my mom is holding down the fort in St. Cloud. Liz continues to excell at Grad School and Ben is seeking more opportunity at QBP. It's great that they have both found something they are excited about.

My mom arrives on Thursday for a 4 day visit. We will be up at the condo for the weekend and will be trying out the new Brewery located in the meadow village. Mulv got a preview yesterday and said it is the best spot in the meadow so far. Town Center is also coming to life now that there are buildings springing up. There is now GREAT Thai food, a good bakery and Choppers Bar and Grill is opening in the spring along with a Chinese restaurant. It's about time we don't have to hang out at Moonlight to have some decent apprais. Big Sky Resort is also undergoing transformation as some of our design work is actually being built. The Village Center 1 is almost complete and our outdoor plaza is looking stellar. I will post some pictures after next weekend. Big Sky is finally going to be a fun place to hang out after skiing. The next 5 years are going to be a really big change and I think Big Sky will really make a name for itself.

The flakes are starting to fly so people are getting the ski bug. I am not quite there yet. It takes a really big snow fall to get me into skiing again. I will get my pass to Lone Mountain Ranch again this year and I am going to do some racing in West Yellowstone. That should help keep my motivation high.

Our next trip to Minnesota is for Thanksgiving. We will be at our cabin for 2.5 days and then back to St. Paul to hang out with Jennys parents. I think we are going out for a Sushi Blowout (a Mulvey family tradition). I am very excited. This will be my first big sushi meal since I had my throat fixed. Hopefull I won't "spritz" Jennys dad this time around. Ha. Ha.

I am already looking forward to Christmas when I will be in MN for 11 days. There should be some good riding and skiing to be done if the weather cooperates.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. Peace Out!!

Brotha man

2007-10-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

One of the most awesome things in the last couple of years has been watching my bro get way into biking. I have watched him go from huffing up Buck Ridge in Montana to kicking some serious ass on his aero wind slicing machine. He has taught me that rocking out on a single speed can be fun and that small BMC frames really do fit me (and that beer and pizza can be good pre race meals)....

I am psyched to see my brother racing and kicking some butt along the way. We are starting our winter training plans so next year people won't just be saying "Crap, it's the Scherer brothers" because we are slow and get in their way......

Thanks for all the awesome times on the bikes.......

Some more pics....

2007-10-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Wow..... I did not do well at the races........

2007-10-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

The main reason for being home was to see my dear mom and celebrate her birthday. It was an awesome time and it's always worth the airfare to see my mom crying with joy looking like Tammy Fay Baker having an epiphany and waving her arms like an enraged baboon. LOVE YOU MOM!!!

The bonus part of the weekend were two bike races that I successfully didn't have to suffer all the way through. Bonked in the Mtn Bike race (thanks in part to ruining the disc brake on Mikes Guci Team bike) and then blew up the rear wheel on my Strong just three laps into the race. Beter luck next year I hope.....

This is what bonking at the start line looks like...

This isn't a look of determination. This is "I don't have my glasses on and I can't see sh*t in these shadowy woods and all the Comp riders are passing me and this stupid person is taking a picture of me and I bet in 5 seconds I am going to bail and I can hear people chearing just ahead in the rock garden and I bet I am going to fall in front of everyone and make an ass of myself and I feel like I am going to barf". That's the look I have.....

more pics

2007-10-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Squaw Hyalite Divide

After 6.5 hours on the bike...

Fairy Lake

Hyalite Resevoir

Picture time

2007-10-01T18:30:00.001-07:00

Where in the world is Troy????????????

2007-09-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

I just flew into bozeman and boy are my arms tired.............. Thanks folks, I'll be here all night........

Well now that summer has come and gone I have a lot of typing and picture posting to do.

Here's a quick recap:

Rented a firetower for a weekend, hung out in an oldgrowth Cedar forest and watched tanker planes dive bomb a forest fire
Went back to MN for the St. Cloud Omnium and found out that I am really only a Cat 2 level rider for a couple days every year. The St. Cloud races weren't those days....
Went on several epic mountain bike rides wth Ryan and discovered what "hike a bike" really means. Some of the most beautiful scnerey in Montana.
Hung out in Jackson Hole and went to an incredible wedding for our friends Pete and Deb
Went back to MN for my moms surprise BD party.
Raced in one mtn bike race and one cyclocross race in St. Cloud. Dropped out of the mtn race and broke my rear wheel in the CX race. Oh well..........
Worked a lot and didn't train very much. I am now overweight and undertrained. Time to get back on the horse.........

Lots of pictures to follow...........

Le Tour

2007-07-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Both Jenny and I have created our tour teams for the 2007 Fantasy Cycling Tour de France on Cyclingnews.com. Anyone else?

I don't know how our teams will stack up. It's expensive to buy good riders. I can't believe the time I put in to making these two fake teams. And now, looking back, I don't even know if I did a good job. Crap! Oh well, it's just a game......right?

No news on Landis yet...no big surprise. I am sure that some official will run up to the sign in table panting and waving their arms around saying they have the leaked decision from the arbitration panel. That way we can all start off the tour on a really sour note. Then again, my brother pointed out that no government official would be caught doing work on a Saturday, not even leaking a big story, so maybe we all get to wait until monday for news.

Jennys Baby.......

2007-07-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

She's not quite done (still waiting on a fork, rim strips and pedals) but she's coming together. Mulv is very excited to try out the cross bike and we will soon be commuting to work every day via two wheels.

Shout out

2007-07-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

Check out the best blog ever...........

www.bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com

Scrapper bike.........where do I get one?

2007-07-03T13:39:00.001-07:00

Think Strong could fabricate one?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=geIsWq5xOSE

The updates are coming fast and furious!!!!!!!

2007-07-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Since returning from the honeymoon Mulv and I have been racking up the fun weekends. We have gone camping twice up in Hyalite, gone on some great mountain bike rides and cooked some great meals at home. So far so good.....

It is hard to remember a lot of what has gone on in the last month so I will just share some photos from the last few weeks. Hope everyone living on the Mississippi is doing well!!!!!!!

I will try and see some of you when I am home to provide pack fodder for the real racers at the St. Cloud Omnium and criterium. Just don't laugh when you see me off the back, I really am trying........

Introducing.........

2007-07-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

My new baby. Well, not completely new. New frame and fork. What a difference it makes. Once you go custom you will never go back. Expensive layers of carbon fiber and composites can't hold a candle to this TI rocket. I feel kind of stupid talking about it so I am going to stop. I will just say that I have never been happier with a bike. Get one. John got one and he can't say enough good things, I got one with the same result and now Ryan has one on order. Coincidence..... I think not.

Please ignore the offending white bottle cages, I know they are terrible.

Belize? I think I swung through there once.....

2007-07-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, nothing like being a month behind on the blogging (althouth this is significantly more up-to-date than a certain Santa Nube bike shop owner).

Belize.....go there. Enough said. Hot, clear water, great people, great food, etc..etc...

Mulv and I didn't do much except lie on the beach for six days. We did manage a full day trip out snorkeling which was killer. We saw 6 sharks, several huge sea turtles, jelly fish and innumberable exotic fishies.

The Turtle Inn was over the top and worth every penny. We were waited on at every step without feeling like we were being pressured to buy drinks or food. Can't recomend this place highly enough.

The beach at the Turtle Inn

Snorkeling day

Iguana

Cottage 2: Home sweet home

Outdoor shower in the private garden. Notice the bamboo spigot sticking out of the rock wall.

Flowers on the bed when we arrived

Married Life

2007-06-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

I know you have all been on pins and needles waiting for an update so here is the first of many in the next couple of days.

I am married. Took the plunge, hooked up to the ball-and-chain, got hooked, hitched, taken........

Couldn't be happier and married life is addly similar to the life I was living before except now I can rest assured Jenny isn't going to run off with that good looking diving instructor from Belize.....

The days leading up the wedding were a blur and I don't remember too much except that there was a lot more to do last second than any of us anticipated.

The ceremony itself was short, sweet and fun. My dad did an awesome job with the service and all of our friends were in attendance. My only dissapointment was that the night went so fast. I feel like I hardly talked to anyone and I know for a fact all I did was talk the whole night. How does that work?

The next day was a quite brunch at jennys parents house and then off to Belize the next morning.

More about that later.................

Teaser........

2007-05-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Cabin Retreat

2007-05-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago Mulv and I headed north of Bozeman to a forest service cabin in a canyon next to a creek. It was awesome. We made food, drank wine, read books and slept a lot. We were worn out from work and had to gather some energy. It was a great getaway and felt like we were on a major vacation despite being only and hour and a half from Bozeman.

We will be visiting several more times before the summer is out.

Bechtle Slade Cycling Team is kicking ass so far this year. We have placed 1st or 2nd in every race and last race we had 4 guys in the top ten, best of any team around!

It's the Final Countdown

2007-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since I last checked in. I can hardly remember what the last few weeks have been like. I have started racing, visited Minnesota, been stressed at work, riden a lot of miles and connected with long lost friends. It has been stressful and also really fun.

Jenny and I are getting married two weeks from today and our days for the next two weeks are booked solid. The wedding is going to be a blast and everything is falling in to place nicely. Big thanks to our Parents who remain the calm in the storm and are solely responsible for making this happen. I love you all so much!!

Biking has been going as well as can be expected. Considering that my only speed work during the week has been at the races I think I am putting in some good efforts. Ryan continues to be the early season superman. Ryan has raced two out of three races and placed 1st and 2nd. I am a bit further back with 6th and 8th and an unkown placing in the TT. What I am happy to report is that I shaved 1.5 minutes off of my 20k TT. That is a huge step forward for me and my sustained power output.

Jenny and I have been hitting the roads quite a bit in our new team kits; getting in some good LSD training (Long, Slow Distance).

Our team was featured in the local rag this week and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback from our volunteer efforts in the community. Team Bechtle Slade is running the Tuesday night TT as well as the upcoming Kids Bike Rodeo. Big UPs to Paul for running the show.

Last weekend we were in St. Paul for the wedding of one of my best friends in college. It was a great time and a beautiful ceremony at the St. Paul Cathedral. He is making a heroic effort to be at my wedding in two weeks. He lives in London and came to St. Paul for his wedding. He is now honeymooning in Sardinia and will fly back to be in my wedding and then is flying right back to London to work on monday. Thanks Matt, means the world to me.

While I was home over the weekend Ben checked out a BMC Team Machine from QBP. Full Campy Chorus and Zipp 404s. I had a blast on the bike and I think that the new Strong will eventually be adorned with full Record and Zipps. The shifting with Campy is so perfect and it is instantly responsive; even under the full pressure of hammering up a steep hill. Speaking of the Strong it is currently residing Spectrum Powder Works waiting for its special bead blasted logos and flames.

Jenny and I are off to a forest service cabin that we rented about an hour from here. The website looks great and it's in a moss covered canyon with a trout stream. This should be a nice little get away before things really get crazy.

Until next time.............

The Tax man cometh..........

2007-04-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, I sure do love taxes. Can you say, Payment Plan? I just about fell out of my chair when I saw what I owe...............

Last week was not fun at work and my training suffered. Logged thirteen hours on the bike and most of that was this weekend.

Had a 4.5 hours sufferfest on Saturday. Ryan and I both brought our hammers on the ride and took turns beating each other over the head. The good news is that I am able to recover at a really high heart rate.

Sunday was a relaxed ride in Yellowstone. Had to turn around and head back to the car at the 40 mile mark because two buffalo were standing across the road and had no intentions of moving. Headed back towards West Yellowstone and spent some time doing hill repeats and ended up with 85 miles on the day.

Our team gear showed up today and we are really happy with the results. Voler did a great job and now it's time to prove that we deserve the gear. Pictures to follow shortly...........

Jennys trip to St. Paul was a success and she said that the wedding dress is not crushing her ribs. We can all focus on having a good time now that Jenny is comfortable!!

Only 5.5 weeks until the big day. I am really, really looking foward to the week in Belize. We are staying at the Turtle Inn which the guide books say is the most luxurious place in Belize. I'm not going to do anything except swim, eat, read, drink and relax.

It's snowing right now and I am having a little trouble dealing with the bi-polar weather. Yesterday was sunny and fifty and now it's freezing cold. Just when you think the major layers can go away...

Managed to paint a couple more walls this weekend. The house feels so much more inviting with some color so I think I will find time for a couple more this coming weekend.

That's all the boring stuff I have for now.

Another boring bike update....

2007-04-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, you already know what I am going to write about. This week I trained a lot, blah blah blah, heart rate this and average that.

Well, it's true. This year I have been biking a lot and I am loving every second of it. Work has been pretty hectic so far this year and it has been a great relief that my employers (and now my official bike sponsors) have been understanding of me leaving work at five to puruse my passion on two wheels. I am feeling better on my bike than ever before. I think that after a year and a half my lungs have finally caught up with the altitude and are able to process oxygen. Combine that with not hammering away on the bike every ride and I am starting to get my legs back.

Ryan and the guys on Bechtle Slade Cycling Team have been patient with the slow training regime and I think that everyone is starting to feel that the winter fat is melting away and we are on our way to a great season.

We are sponsoring a junior rider this year named Akeo. This kid is an all star cross country skier and decided to use his power on the road for some fun and excitement on two wheels. He has seriously impressed my with his power on the hills and his willingness to tuck in and drop like a stone down the hills.

We have regular Tuesday / Thursday rides and Akeo has been attending them and showing everyone that he is commited and excited about the bike. Some of the Thursday night rides have also turned into the designated speed work night so I have been limping home on some pretty tired legs.

Last Saturday was again a long distance day. Headed out at 9am with 5 guys and Drew and I finished out the 106 mile loop. The last 30 miles was straight into an absolute viscious head wind. I am starting to think that the Livingston loop is a bad idea until later in the spring when we can start earlier and get through Livingston before the wind really picks up. Imagine riding along at 12 mph with your heart rate at 150. Not fun and a total waste of time. The ride was great for the most part thought because 60% of the ride had a wicked tail wind.... 28mph without even trying. Did the loop an hour faster than last week.

Our new team kits ship tomorrow so my Grandstay stuff is finally going to collect some dust. Not going to recognize myself when I look down to grab a water bottle.

Wedding planning is in full swing and Mulv and I have to dedicate our time to get things organized. Our parents have been saviors in this regard. We cannot thank them enough for steering the ship and keeping us on track. Mulv is heading home for the weekend to get the dress fitted one last time. I am staying behind and working on song selection and looking through our ceremony material. In the next couple of days we are finalizing food for the grooms dinner and reception. Hope everyone likes McDonalds.

Hope this finds everyone doing well and keep the rubber side down.

Bar tales.......

2007-03-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

What better way to cap a day on the river than a few hours at The Happy Hour Bar on Hebgen Lake. We decided to try our luck with the food and atmosphere and were not dissapointed with either!

After putting back a couple of brews we dove into a rousing couple of rounds of Wheel Of Fortune on the dvd player. The locals showed us a great time and told us that we were OK people despite being from Bozeman. The Happy Hour Bar is an absolute must for anyone travelling through the Hebgen Lake / Yellowstone area.

Fishing and the Happy Hour Bar made for a 12 hour day and I am hitting the hay..

Until next time....

Fish tales........

2007-03-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 6:30 today, packed the car with our fishing gear and buzzed over to Rons house to coordinate our efforts. We took Rons truck over to the Ennis hole and had the doors blown back in our face just trying to get out. There would be no fishing in the Ennis...

We hopped back in the truck and continued south and only stopped to snap a few pictures of a small Mule deer that was cowering from the wind.

Next stop was somewhere below Hebgen Lake where we decided to try our luck for the day. Ron made out like a Pro Tour Bass Wrangler and landed himself some nice trout including a monster that was his last catch of the day (19 inches). The weather was sunny early and then clouded over and the fish began to strike.

In true form I only managed a nibble on the line. I have to say that I don't care about striking out because just being on the river for the first time this year was worth it. Mulv caught one Whitefish and also enjoyed the time in the sun.

Props to Ron for landing 8 and showing us a great time on the river.

Wa Wa Wee Woo

2007-03-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Another day, another 106 miles. Saturdays are turning into century day.

I hit the road at 7am for the "Around the Block" ride. Headed up and over Bridger Canyon then blasted down into the Shields River Valley north of Livingston. I had a nice tail wind through Clyde Park and Wilsall. Then, of course, I battled a murderous headwind starting 6 miles outside of Livingston until I was up over the pass between Livingston and Bozeman. Once I arrived at Jackson Creek it was another 15 mins uphill and then a fast cruise back down Bridger Canyon and back into town.

7 hours on the bike, 50F, 15 mph average (seems pathetic but between my heart rate and the climbing, I had to go slow), lots o' calories burned. No McDonalds today, just recovery drinks, yogurt, asparagus and bison burgers. 5200 ft climbed. 1 picture taken before my camera officially bit the dust. 17 hours on the bike this week.

Mulv also got out on the road bike and rode Gooch Hill Road then out past Gallatin Gateway. A beautiful 35 mile jaunt that takes you high up over Bozeman for killer 360 mountain and valley views. Another upside is that there is hardly and traffic or houses so you can feel really alone and still be in the middle of the valley.

The weight is coming off and I am looking forward to some racing. April 14th is the start of the Tuesday night races in Bozeman. First race is the road race up and down Bridger Canyon. WIth all of the nice weather I expect that a lot of people will be fast from the start this year. Could be scary fast..... St. Cloud is still looking like a major goal and September 9th is the Granny Grinder race in Red Lodge.

Wind in my face.....

2007-03-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

No matter where I ride or who I ride with the wind always seems to be coming at me. People always complained about the same thing back in MN and now I have brought the issue to Montana.

The difference yesterday was that I was doing my first 100 mile ride of the season. Yellowstone National Park allows only cyclists and hikers to use the park for a whole month before opening it to cars. I had the entire park to myself for the whole ride. I think 10 park service trucks passed me and only a few other cyclsits. 7 hours on the bike whithout any worries was awesome.

Stats:

100.9 miles

3,800 ft climbing

15.5 mph average

5 hrs of headwind

127 average heart rate

Two close encounters with Bison and Elk

100's of piles of poo dodged

1 large coke, 1 Big Mac, 10pc McNugget (right after ride)

1 huge Chicken and Pear salad, 1 double Baileys on the rocks

1 grilled cheese sandwich

The ride was great and I will be back there for another go next weekend. Let's hope the wind dies down.

Ryan and Duncan were kind enough to let me stay at their place on Hebgen Lake so I only had a short drive to Yellowstone in the morning. Duncan is learning to play the guitar and made huge strides by mastering two chords on Friday night.

Training is going well. 19 hours on the bike this past week. While I told you all about the LOW land speed records of last week, this week was a different story. Wednesday night was interval training and Ryan and I had a tail wind going UP Bridger Canyon. We were hitting 35 and 36 mph uphill on the lower roads. I don't think I will ever see that sort of sustained uphill speed ever again. In fact, Ryan was pulling so hard at one point that blood came pouring out of my nose and we had to pull over. That guy can haul a**. Total of two hours over Level 1. Recovery times are starting to shorten and base riding is getting faster. Racing starts April 15; one month from now.

Until next time........

Pugtastic!

2007-03-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Pugn' in Minntuckey

Land speed records...........

2007-03-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Records dropped this week as Ryan fielded several comments and inquiries about his unusually slow pace during the rides this past week. I found out that no one has actually ever seen him ride below 18mph. So here's to Ryan for setting a new personal LOW land speed record on his bike.

The reason for this momentous occassion is that I have actually convinced him (for the time being) that training slow now can be beneficial in the long run. He's finally given in to my BS and at least humored me by riding with me for three days in a row at extremely slow speeds. I know that it works and I hope that it helps him out as well. I know he's already thinking about when the hotshot MSU boys come out to play at the Tuesday night races in the spring.....

Put in some really good miles this week and my body is responding very well. I was out for 5 hours today (which makes 15 hours for the week) and felt great until the end. Put in some one minute sprints that had my lungs looking for an exit from my body. As the announcer at the NVGP said during my time trial finish "MOUTH OPEN LIKE A HOOVER VACUUM!!!!!!!" The rides are exactly what I need as I am putting in day after day of 4 to 5 hour rides and feeling great every day. Avg. heart rate: 120 to 125.

I met with Seifert a couple of weeks ago and had performance testing done. The bad news is that I have a lot of work to do. The good news is that my seasons goals don't start until the middle of July. I hope to be in the Cloud for the omnium in July and then the State Champs in August. Then it's all about the Granny Grinder race up the Beartooth Pass in early September. Then it's time for cyclocross. I will be racing all year long on Tuesday nights which will make up my speed work and maybe toss in a couple of montana state races just so I can remember what it's like to be dropped by Andy Shultz in the middle of thousands of acres of blowing wheat fields in 90F weather.....awesome.

Now that daylight savings time has arrived and 50F weather is here the miles are going to start stacking up on the old bicicleta. If anyone is looking for a Colnago C50 they should call me...I may have something on the way from a local Bozeman bike builder.....

Don't know if anyone has had the opportunity to ride a Surly Pugsley, but that thing should be on the top of any bike list. Ben and I hit the streets of downtown Minneapolis in 12+ inches of snow and they handled beautifully. Next day was some downhill work at Hidden Falls park and the bikes handled drifts with no problems. The bikes even gave Mulv the confidence to try out a snowy downhill run.

Hope all is well with friends and fam..... Granny Fran is recovering well after receiving a pacemaker last friday. 93 (i think) and still ticking.... not too shabby. Love you Grandma...

Until next time..........

Firetower..........almost.

2007-02-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Well, today was spectacularily lame. After planning for months to spend the night in a firetower with our friend Tomas, who is visiting from Chicago, we failed to reach the summit. The deep snow proved too much for our expidition specific, wide track, wide ski, monster torque snowmobile. I am guessing that most of the fault lies with the operators of said vehicle. After making it 9 out of 10 miles, dumping and recovering the sled 6 times and totally digging out twice we were turned back by the untracked, deep last quarter mile. The last time the sled bogged we spent almost 45 minutes just turning the thing around in waist deep snow.

I am not really sure what we were thinking when we set out on the adventure. The plan was to load down the sled and Tomas and I would ride up first with the dog and drop off the supplies. I would then head back down, pick up Mulv and head back up for the evening. Needless to say Mulv was a little shocked to see us both return two hours later. We should have known better seeing as 1) I have never used a snowmobile; 2) Tomas used one ten years ago in his Grandpas yard; 3) Our destination was high in the remote back country; 4) Mulv has never used a snowmobile; 5) It had been dumping snow for the last week and all good trails had been buried under new snow.

This could have been a cheesy montage in a Sledneck movie about the idiots who want to go snowmobiling in the backcountry and think it's as easy as watching a video. I was a little embarrassed about calling the rental place back three hours later and telling them they could come pick up the sled. The nice thing is that the guys were super nice and made us feel better by telling stories of their past failures (I think they were lying). They refunded our second day and the owner even said to call back if we got the tower again and he said he would get us up there on the shops dime. Something he didn't have to do and he will definately get my business again.

I think the next attempt at the tower will be in the summer with ATVs.

Check out the shot of the overly optomistic idiots with their dog on the snowmobile. (We were also running over our water supply for the weekend. IDIOTS.)

New Dog Owners........Sappy and Pathetic

2007-02-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

This update is to let everyone know....again....that we love our new dog and he continues to show a little more personality each day. I promise that I won't make dog pictures and poop talk the only thing I blog about in the future.

New Family Member

2007-02-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Picked up Mario from the animal shelter today. Mario is his kennel name and we are not yet sure of a new name. Mario is a border collie / Lab mix and is about three years old. He is super calm, wags his tail a lot and is really interested in checking out every corner of his new home. I will check back in in a few days once I am over my shock at actually committing to taking care of a dog (besides me).

Old News

2007-02-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

Two sixteen hour days to end the work week means that I didn't do anything yesterday. Today I woke up at quarter to 8, called the Big Sky snow phone and packed the car for a day on the slopes. Mulv is in Jackson so I figured some time on the snow with my good friend shuffle would be just the thing to shake off a rough week at work.

The new snow was awesome; the snow under that was terrible. Took five bomber runs and called it a day (you can do that guilt free when you have a free season pass). Headed home and filled a bucket of water to clean off the Strong from last weekends adventures.

Two weeks ago Ryan, Tomas and I headed out from Bozeman to ride to Three Forks and back. Being that it was 15 degrees my toes were a little chilly by the end. I managed to get a pretty good icicle hanging from my soul patch. Not a great temp but the roads were stellar.

Cyclocross bikes are the golden ticket in Montana. I spent 2.5 out of 4 hours on gravel roads, min. maintenance roads and straight up farm fields last saturday. I was on the high plains west of Bozeman with 360 views of mountain ranges. Not one vehicle passed me for over two hours. I am pretty sure I was tresspassing for at least part of the ride; Some parts of the ride were little more than cow paths. Good fun. The temp was a balmy 45 and I was firing on all cylinders.

Sunday was great too and I took the road bike out since almost all the snow was gone. By the end of the ride I was kind of wet from snow melt but the kicker was that 3 miles before home some jack a** in a big truck put his wheels right on the centerline where all the slush is and just covered me with a long, slow Montana Slushy. This of course happened just 50ft before I turned off that road. I signaled my appreciation with one of my fingers and rode the last three miles fast to stay warm.

Work continues to amaze me. We keep getting dream projects that will keep us busy for years to come. High rise mixed use developments in Bozeman, ski resorts and two new projects on Lake Tahoe should keep things fun for the foreseeable future.

The weather here has been really, really warm. We have had five days about 50 in the last couple of weeks. The past couple of days have seen snow in the Bridgers but the Madison and Gallatin ranges are melting fast.

Until next time.......................

Team Bechtle Slade Winter Training Camp

2007-01-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

Bozemans newest bike team managed to get three riders out on the roads today.

Ryan, Paul and I headed ten miles west of Bozeman in the car and hopped out of the truck onto dry roads and countryside that didn't have a flake of snow. We filled the shoes with toe warmers, put on our fuzzy ear muffs and filled the bottles with watered down whiskey.

We set into our ride marveling at the 30F temps, lack of traffic and lack of snow.

After an hour of riding, three dirt roads, one interstate and one small town we noticed that the wind was picking up and the temp was dropping. Ryan suggested we turn around and hit up a different route on the way back to the truck. 4 miles later we were back at the small town and it was dumping snow. We stopped at the gas station, warmed up, ate food and explained to the locals that since we could balance on our bikes there was no need for chains on our tires.

The last hour of the ride was cold and the snow kept picking up. By the time we reached the truck the roads were actually turning to ice. I think another half hour would have seen us falling over.

Despite the snow it was great to be outside and it reminded me that I can ride all winter without snow by driving 10 minutes west to town. (The snow that fell today will be gone in a couple of days).

The Hair of Christmas Past

2007-01-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

You can only be referred to as a low income central minnesota tree branch removal specialist for so long before you realize that maybe your shaggy hair is no longer "Mountain Man Shaggy" but has made the transition to "NASCAR Stupid".

Thanks to Mulv for making the final trim with the clippers.

XMas Ride 06/07

2007-01-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

This is not a post that trail advocates would appreciate. My only comment is that we were not the only ones on the trails that day. It was fun, it was cold, it was muddy, it was rainy and I gained three pounds at IHOP afterwards. Showing up to IHOP covered in mud is great.

It should be mentioned that this post constitutes an admission of my admiration for single speed bicycles. Before this day I had spent significant amounts of breath, time and energy expounding on the frivility and "fad" lameness of single speeds. I freely admit I was wrong and now stand wholly corrected. Thank you Ben. That Surly was some of the most fun I have had on two wheels in a long time. While I don't think that a SS is right for me out in Montuckey right now, I am sure that one will find a home here soon.

Grandstay Cylcing in no way endorses riding on sodden, muddy single track. I like the jacket, it's warm, the team is great, I still wear it.

Best bike shop on earth?!?!

2006-12-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

I don't know...I haven't been there yet....but I am just going to go ahead and assume that it is.........

Today was sufferfest in Bozeman. Ryan called up and said "Hey, Bridger Canyon is dry...we should ride up there" Just a little sunday road ride to stretch the legs, right? I don't know what my deal was today but I was F...ing hurting, bad. I have not had a muscle cramp for years but today my quads started quivering and knotting. GROUND CONTROL TO TROY! REDUCE CADENCE AND SHIFT TO AN EASIER GEAR! Right, that should help. Well, the cramps never took over but thoughts about food in my cupboards at home did. I got home, chugged a whole water bottle of gatorade, a huge plate of spagehti and meatballs, three mini butterfingers and a mason jar of water. Man, it was not that long a ride but aparently it was too much right now. Maybe it was the two hard hours of spinning and then a full round of leg work that I put in at the gym yesterday... yep I am going to go with that excuse.

I have to say that it was a great day for riding. It was 35F but the canyon was sunny and I was definately losing a lot of water. The ride was awesome despite my lack of power.

Stay tuned for Thanksgiving adventures with the T Parents........

A tree, two stockings and an orange wall...

2006-12-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas is right around the corner and Mulv and I finally found the time to buy a charlie brown tree, string some lights and hang stockings in the window.

We have to improvise around our house since we lack a mantel for proper stocking placement.

We are aslo excited to debut "the orange wall" to the world. It only took us six months to paint a wall; we are making some real progress here folks.

There are currently two presents under the tree. The best news yet is that they are both for me! All of Mulvs presents are currently on tour around the country in UPS trucks. I think I have time it so that they arrive before Christmas.

The kitchen is currently a flurry of activity because we are preparing to host our first dinner tommorrow. Yes that's right... I am blogging as Mulv is working away in the kitchen. What a fabulously traditional household. Ha Ha!

I am a little worried that there will not be any reason to bring the cc skis home at Christmas time. Please do some snow dances in Minnesota!!! Maybe it would be better to bring my bike?......

Three Men and a Dog......

2006-12-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Yet another blog about past adventures..........

Weeks (Months?) ago I was fortunate enough to meet up with my bro and Dad near Fargo to point guns at ducks, geese and sometimes each other.

I have a new respect for the sport and the effort and patience that it takes to be succcessful. We came into camp tired and sore at the end of the day but we successful filled our limit.

Looking back I wonder why we had to work so hard when those around us seem to see thousands of countless winged targets. It's also curious that despite seeing less we brought home more.....

The plan here forward is to alternate my vacation time between deer and duck hunting, alternating years.

Sunrise...

Sunset....

The crew......

After complaing of some mild discomfort it was discovered that the problem wasn't hemroids after all......

CycloChaos.......

2006-11-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Two updates in two days; this has to be some sort of landmark moment in history....

It's too bad my updates usually involve reporting on events that happened weeks ago and and everyone I know has already heard the stories ad nauseum.

So this post is all about my incredible fall cyclocross campaign across the Bozeman regional area.

The season kicked off with a race in the Meadow Village at Big Sky. I arrived a few hours early; helped set a few course flags, jumped over a few barriers (for the first time ever) and then went on an hour warmup ride. I arrived to the race ready to rock and then lost any confidence I had when the cannondale pro jerseys started appearing. I lined up timidly at the start and prayed that I wouldn't finish dead last. I started out fine but at about the 1/2 hour mark I realized I didn't have a whole lot in the tank. Sure enough I finished dead last and the leader managed to lap me. I was joking with a few people at the start that I expected no better than last place and therefore would meet or exceed my expectations for the day. Mission accomplished.

The second and final day of my cyclocross season was the next day in Bozeman. I was ready for this race as I had learned a great deal the day before. The race was fast from the gun as there was limited climbing and only one dismount. Ryan charged hard, got a gap and then maintained a 100 yard lead on me for the entire race. I was only able to keep my motivation by hoping that someday I could have as fine a pair of Scandanavian Cyclocross Leg Warmers as Ryan. Those socks were the carrot on the stick. The days results were considerably better than the day before. I managed to stay well ahead of several guys who had whipped my sorry ass the day before. Ryan managed fifth and I hung on for seventh. I would have locked in sixth if my shifter hadn't broke at the start of the last lap and left me with only my easiest gear in back.

Next year will bring a greater focus to the act of hopping off bikes at high speed and then smashing my self upon remount while maintaining a rediculously high heart rate. I love cyclochaos and look forward to more racing.

I started training again two days ago for the 2007 season. Feels good to be back into it and I look forward to shedding the 15 pounds I have gained since June. I also purchased my season pass for Lone Mountain Ranch; 35 miles of groomed CC ski trails.

I will be back in the Cloud over Christmas and will have my CC ski gear with me if anyone wants to play.

Where's dem pictures?

2006-11-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Let's see if this post will let me put in pictures.... These pictures are from Northwestern Montana where we rented the fire tower and went on the old railroad pass ride.

.........................

Lookout! Tunnel ahead.....

2006-10-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

This post is a little delayed but that's how life goes......

5 weekends ago Mulv and I escaped the "city life" and headed to northwest Montuckey for some much needed R&R.

We went to Missoula on Friday evening and stayed at Blossoms Bed and Breakfast. The room was awesome, the house beautiful and Blossom made a world class breakfast in the morning. We then cruised around Missoula for the morning and then hit the road to our major destination.

We rented a fire tower for Saturday night and spent the evening enjoying the views, watching the sunset and then were impressed my the stars which were as clear as I have ever seen them.
We took our time waking up on Saturday, packed up the car and headed another hour northwest to the border of Montana and Idaho.

We unpacked our bikes at the bottom of the Hiawatha Line bike trail. This ride is an awesome leisure ride with killer views. We climbed the fifteen miles to the top and then turned around and flew back down. The ride is an old railroad bed that was a mountain pass for about 75 years before being abandoned. There are several 250 ft bridges and 8 major tunnels; the longest of which is 1.6 miles long. Headlights are required as well as being comfortable imitating a gopher.

After our ride we jumped back in the car and cruised to missoula at full speed to stuff our faces with Sushi. Missoula has two killer sushi bars and I think we will be back.

In other news.....

Work is as fast and furious as ever.

I have been putting in some serious time on the cyclocross bike and for some reason the sport is really harsh on my ankles. They are bloody after every ride. I am totally addicted to the sport and the bike is the best bike purchase I have ever made. Not long till I pull the trigger on a road bike.....

Mulv and I attended the wedding of two of our friends from grad school (1/4 of our grad school class is marrying each other). We had a blast and I managed to party too hard and yell too much. I was a little queasy the next day.

Saw some of my old mates at the cyclocross race in Orono. Great to see Mike and Matt doing well.

More to come when I have something interesting to report........

Not fair...for everyone but me.

2006-08-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here she is. Rode it for the first time this afternoon in the neighborhood. Definately a new position and a new bike to get used to. Don't have cross tires yet so she will be tested out the next couple of weeks during the Tuesday night races. The only thing I know for sure is that this bike can take corners at really high speeds.

What f***ing creek are we at?

2006-08-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Another day another killer ride....

This morning was spent in Hyalite Canyon learning some new routes. The mountain biking just keeps getting better. Today was all about killer fast descents and some pretty good views too. Hyalite Canyon and the associated drainages are criss crossed with miles of logging roads which make for great climbing and of course no one wants to ride back down the road so you have an equal amount of downhill single track. I didn't even try to remember which creeks and drainages we were riding but I know how to get to them and that's what counts.

The two hour ride totals 3000feet of climbing but the elevation is made in two climbs. The two descents are totally different from each other. One is smooth twisting single track through old forest and the other is wide open logging road. Both are fast and test your handling at high speeds.

The views of Hyalite resevoir and the valley were to die for and the weather cooperated with sun and high clouds. Being on the trail at 7:30am also helps as we didn't see anyone else on the ride. Unfortunately a small log attacked Ryans bike while he was putting out 5oo watts so his rear derailleaur was sacrificed on the last climb and had to miss the last 30 mins of the ride. The ride was perfect and Ryan provided the gas needed to motivate while Rusty kept track of the mileage with Swiss precision. Great ride with great friends.

Hyalite Canyon and then some...

Rusty is all thumbs after nailing the mileage to within a tenth of a mile.

A is no longer connected to B.....

Wapiti the fool....

2006-08-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday AM was big on climbing and views. The Wapiti ride ranks as the most beautiful and fun mountain bike ride that I have done to date. Located about 10 miles south of Big Sky the Wapiti trail starts with a several mile climb totalling 2200 feet. Then it's a roller coaster ride through wide open meadows, cow poop, old forests and tops out at what feels like the top of the world. The views of the Madison Range are killer and the best is yet to come. A five mile descent into heaven finishes right at the car door. Buff, fast single track graces the entire descent with only a couple of tricky stream crossings to slow the momentum.

I was reminded that I could survive a few days in the backcountry as my knees were banging into my stomach with metronomic regularity during the climbs. It's good to be training again and my reserves should be depleted over the next few weeks.

I've heard complaints that the unveiling of the Strong has been a long time coming. The time is neigh so quit bitching.....

The cows aren't the only ones pissing in the fields....

Madison Range looking north towards Big Sky....

360....

Hot, Cold, Hot

2006-08-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Just when you think that fall has arrived in Montana it gets hot again.

Updates have been few and far between and that's because I am too busy reading friends blogs that are more interesting than mine.

The past few weeks have been busy at work and so biking has taken somewhat of a back seat. Promises were made to myself this morning that "This coming week will be different! I am going to eat, train and sleep properly! I will be superman in three weeks!" We'll see if I can follow through.

On the upside my cross bike is almost complete. Bozeman is in the middle of a severe cable hanger drought so I have been unable to connect my front brake. It sucks to look at a 99.9% complete bike and not go riding.

New wheels and rubber adorn the cross bike and Colnago and I can't believe the difference a good set of wheels makes. My Ksyriums had been crashed once and crashed into once and have since lost their will to corner and sprint. The new Race X Lites are carving the downhills with renewed vigor and breakneck speeds. Hyalite Canyon at 35-45 mph is fun!!

My parents were in town a couple of weeks ago and we had fun cruising the mountains and hanging out at Big Sky. I wasn't so lucky with the fish but my dad figured out what was making the fish rise and managed to slay a few on their last day in Montana. Of course there is no photographic proof, so.....

The furniture finally arrived for the house and we can now move out of "dorm" mode and into civilization. It feels great to have the house set up and we are looking forward to having a party soon.

Cross season is on the horizon and I don't have the first clue about what I am supposed to do. Trial by fire......

The most important room in the house. 7.1 THX Ultra

Bout time I updatered this here blarg...

2006-07-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hello from Montuckey.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and extreme sloth.

Upon returning from the NVGP I promptly reassembled my road bike and forgot about it. I took almost two weeks off, ate really fatty foods, drank beer and generally enjoyed life.

Mulvey and I have moved into our new house and we couldn't be more excited. Lots of sunshine and great views open and close every day in Bozeman.

Had a great morning on the Madison River about two weeks ago with Ron before spending the rest of the day moving.

This past weekend Mulvey was in Arizona with her Grandma and Mom so I was left to fend for myself. I decided I would try to set up some more things around the house and get the garage organized. I put up three hooks in the garage and called it good. Also managed to bring in one box of kitchen supplies from the garage so that I could make some really healthy grilled cheese sandwiches.

On a really positive note...I have rediscovered my mountain bike after a two year hiatus. The trails out here are amazing and my partners in bike crime are pushing me to my limits. Grassy Mountain in the Bridgers is 3+ hours of buff, single-track heaven. A must for anyone coming out to visit.....seriously....come out and visit.

This weekend is my first mountain bike race in three years. I wonder how long it will take me to barf during the race?

Yep...ours is the blue one.

View of the Bridgers out the master bedroom.

That's one strong frame....

2006-07-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for one Bozeman resident...

Got a call last night that Carl would be welding today so I fired up the camera battery charger and made sure I had a fresh card in the digi...

Tacked and ready to weld.

Checking alignment before welding.

Now the fun part...

More pictures tomorrow. Friday is the day for boses, cable guides and bridges. Can't wait for the finished product...

NVGP: Day Five

2006-06-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

Heat, Hills and Heavy Breathing.

The race in Stillwater went well today and I felt stronger and stronger as the race went on. I passed 4 or 5 riders per lap during the last six laps and caught up to Mike and Kruse on the last lap. Mike played it perfect and made Kruse work as I was catching them and they put in a huge sprint on Chilkoot to stay ahead of me.

The NVGP has been a great experience and I look forward to racing it again in two years. Grandstay put in a great showing and I think that they have really put themselves on the map in the midwest.

On a sad note, Out N About Gear has closed its doors as of 5pm this evening. ONAG was the second job I ever had and I worked there almost six years. I will miss talking shop and visiting the guys in the back.

Best of luck to all of the ONAG crew and thanks for everything!!!!!

I hop a plane back to Montana at 9pm tonight. Jenny and I close on our house on Thursday and we are very excited to have our own place again. There is a spare bedroom so we expect people to visit. Anyone up for a high altitude training camp? Plenty oportunities for 8k to 10k foot climbing days up at the Big Sky condo.

See you in Montana.

NVGP: Day Four

2006-06-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ben testing his new Unobtanium time trial bike at a top secret location in South Minneapolis.

While the big boys went and duked it out in the wind and heat, I stayed in town and played in the sandb0x with the other 2's and 3's. The Mankato crit was fast with constant attacks. Little did I know that there was a break that went away on the second or third lap. About thirty minutes into the race I did a couple of hard pulls thinking I was pushing the pace and making people hurt. Ends up all I was doing was killing myself for no reason. Oh well.

Matt, Michael and Jarred made the cut in the Road Race and will face the Stillwater torture chamber tomorrow.

NVGP: Day Three: Hurricane Season

2006-06-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Rain, Pain and no gain.

The race was called after about 18 minutes because of the water that was pouring down from the sky. Everyone was soaked as the rain started to fall when the gun went off. After about 8 minutes of racing the rain really kicked in and a few minutes later the lightning started to light up the course. Officials called the race when the lightning started and decided that the race was neutralized and that all riders in the crit would be allowed to start the Mankato Road Race.

Good luck to the lucky four Grandstay guys who are still unlucky enough to be in the race. My advice: Just take it easy and draft off of HealthNet. Ha!! Ha!!

NVGP Day Two: What the H*ll am I doing?

2006-06-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Wow. Pros ride fast.

The race started off "neutral" with a 28 mph role out then we attacked the course like we were trying to outrun a jet plane. I have never had my heart rate so high for so long. I hid my watch from view and decided that I was going to do this race as hard as I could, sans info.

The race blew apart around mile 14 when the peleton hit a hill right before a 2mi. dirt road section. HealthNet was at the front and just drilled the pace. Well over 30mph on the flats and 27+ on the hills. Just before the dirt I yo-yoed off the group and ended up in a chase group that was chasing a chase group that was chasing the mutants called HealthNet-Maxxis. These chase groups then began to splinter and I ended up doing a couple of solo moves to link up with small groups. I ended up finishing with a team mate and 5 other guys about 15 mins down from the winner. It is 10:30pm and I don't yet know if I am cut from the race; Most likely yes.

I have to say this was the hardest and most painful race I have ever done. It was an eye opener to see and experience the pace of a real pro race.

If I make into the race tomorrow I will be psyched but if I don't I still have two races to look forward to in Mankato and Stillwater.

My personal bodyguard (my brother) keeping the
paparazzi away.

The race hasn't even started and I am checking my heart rate.

Trying to maintain on the hills.

NVGP Day One

2006-06-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the time trial along the river in downtown Saint Paul. The big guns were out in force and the top times were mid 8's for a 4.5 mile course.

The weather was in the 80's with very high humidity (compared to Montana). I was pouring sweat just warming up on the trainer. It was hard not to be intimidated when warming up and Ivan Dominguez, Dany Pate, Gord Frasier, Greg Henderson and numerous other champions are biking by.

I went out and pushed as hard as I could and ended with a time of about 10 minutes flat. I felt satisfied with the result and I look forward to racing tomorrow. Having pushed hard today I feel much more confident going into tomorrows suffer fest. I always ride better the day after a hard effort.

2006-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Back in the Twin Cities

2006-06-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Arrived back in Minnesota and went directly to the new bro / sis house. Put together the bike and rode easy for 2.5 hours.

The airport was swarming with shaved pros and bike cases. Everyone was sizing each other up and saying "I'm going to beat you into the ground" with their eyes.

Team meeting in the morning and a Time Trial tomorrow night.

There are seven national champions racing this week. 5 U.S. champions, 1 Canadian Champ and 1 Mexican Champ. All the top trade teams are present and several of the best amateur teams. Should be a great race.

Day One in the Blogosphere

2006-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing to say. Just trying to figure this out.