Summer 2008... the rest of it

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

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...

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...

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

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

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

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?

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

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...

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

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....

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....

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....

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

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....

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

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

Squaw Hyalite Divide




After 6.5 hours on the bike...















Fairy Lake

Hyalite Resevoir

Picture time

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

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...........