Daycare opens tomorrow

http://www.raysmtb.com/  Don't forget that Rays opens tomorrow.  Have your paperwork ready before you go to save some time.  Hit the link and print and have it ready and if you are a minor and parents are not going you need it notarized or you are not going to get and ride.  So get it done and see you there, after Nate gets done with his cross race.  Oh yeah he has to work Sunday night there so stop in and say hi.  Later..

Ride'n and Swimming

I tried to think back to when it was the last time that Nate has not trained or raced.  Maybe a 7 years as we go from BMX in the winter to road and bmx in the spring, to road, track, mtn bike and BMX during the summer and then cross and bmx in the fall.  So this week it is just a few efforts and then more races over the weekend.  It is just a small break and then back to the full on training again for the later goals that have been set.  Plus Nate has to work 3 to 4 nights a week right now as he has the best job a bike racer could have.  He works at Rays indoor mtn bike park.  What a lucky kid to be able to work at his play ground.

Tomorrow is another swim meet for Maddie as she has a duel meet against Shorewood which is nice as Nate and I will be at the cross practice at a park in the area of the swim meet.  Maddie has to swim in 4 events again and she is really enjoying being on the swim team and is glad she went out for the team.  Hopefully we can pick a swim club and she can get more time in a pool to help her get faster and her strokes, breathing and flip turns become better.  But I am looking forward to getting to watch her swim again.  Time for me to look over some material for my Weight and Measures conference that I am going to next week.  Later..

Cross weeekend USGP style.

Here are a few pictures form the weekend of racing.  The top are form yesterday and it was dry and real sweet racing.  Nate had a mechanical with his handle bars slipped forward and he was to far over the bars causing him to crash.  He crashed 3 times but chased to have a sprint for 4th and 5th with Mitch.  Then today it was a mud fest and Nate raced well and rolled in for a 4th place.  It was a fun race to watch and cheer the racers on as they suffered.

The USGP series is a great run race but I do have 1 issue and that is that the Jr's start behind the Master 45 plus racers and these 17-18 year old kids are fast and catch them early and have to battle the masters and that causes a poor situation for the jr racers as some master racers move over and some don't.  I think that it is easier for a handful of the master racers to pass a few of the slower jr racers them 10 plus jrs having to battle each other and 75 plus master racers.  I will send a email to them to voice the situation and see what they say.  Now I need to get my feet up after washing 5 bikes after the race and then going over Nate's 2 bikes when I got home.  Later.. 

Race Time

http://www.usgpcyclocross.com/index.php  Come get some.  

Nate and Kaleb

Here is a real nice picture that the Kenosha News took of Nate and Kaleb racing at the Washington Bowl this past summer.  It was during the Kenosha News Jr race which Kaleb and Nate were tied in points and Kaleb won on the tie breaker.  But in all track is done, road racing is done and now we are moving on to cyclocross racing this weekend.  But in all a cool picture.  Later..

Tandem Pictures.

 Here are some awesome pictures that Mark Hirsch took of Greg and I racing the tandem over the weekend.  What a blast and thanks for the pictures Mark. Later..

Race pic's

 Nate and Joesy at the start line.

 Nate coming in for 3rd with clean wheels.

 Greg and I coming into the finish area.

Here is a picture that Skinnyski got of Greg and I with Anna right behind us.  She won the women's short and fat race again.  Awesome job Anna.

Here are some photo's from the weekend at the fat tire race.  Like always it was a blast and can't wait to line the tandem up again next year and have Nate racing the 40 miler too.  All I have to say it Greg was a blast to ride and race with and can't wait to race with him again next year.  Now it is time to get Nate ready for some cross racing.  Later..

Another Canvas print

Here are the 2 canvas prints that we have had made of Nate racing this year.  They really do a great job on the pictures and I really think that if you have a few pictures that you like look at the link on the side of the blog and get some made.  You will be happy with the work and the quality of the pictures.  They always have some great deals going on so friend them on facebook and watch for some deals to come your way.  Later..

Fat Tire fun

 Greg and I on the top box.  We won the tandem class.

Nate on the 3rd place box, Ian took 2nd and Jordan 1st.  This is for the overall of the race not the jr class.  They were the fastest of 900 plus racers.

 The Curtes gang after they finished the race.  Fear this group as they are fast as hell.

 Here are the top overall finishers getting their swag.

Here is a shot of the overall times.

More swimming

Today was another swim meet for Maddie.  This time it was at Cudahy and Maddie had to swim 3 events again tonight.  See looked really good and I seen a lot of improvement since her last meet on Saturday.  She took a 2nd in her 5o yard fly even though she missed the horn going off as it was real quiet.  She was the last into the water and then missed first by .21 seconds.  Maddie then swam the 100 yard backstroke and won that event and then she swam on the  4x100 yard freestyle and her team won that event.  In the end St Francis / St Thomas More won the dual meet.  I have to say it was fun to watch the swim meet tonight and I will have to try  to make a bunch of the other meets too.

Nate started his job tonight.  I think he has his dream job as it is working at Rays.  What a gig if you ask me.  Well I think all of you that will be going there are going to really like the new layout and of course you are going to be seeing alot him there. Well time to get the last few things packed for the race this weekend.  Later..

Race pic's

Pictures from themiwas.

Here is a sequence of pictures from the start of one of the races at Gate Way cup in St Louis.  I asked Nate about it and he said in the first few races he went hard in the first few laps to open up the legs and cause the racers that just hanging on to suffer and pop.  So I guess Nate does have a plan at some of the races and maybe I will stop asking him why are you doing this and that and just let him race his race as he maybe knows what he is doing.  Nothing else is going on here except a lot of orthodontist and dentist visits.  Later..

Swimming

Here are a few pictures from Maddie at the swim meet the other day.  I was the first time ever for me at a swim meet and it was fun but yet interesting.  I guess I am used to the type of swimming you see at the Olympics, fast moving and quiet.  All I have to say is that girls make a lot of noise and they chant some crazy stuff.  I did notice that the ones who made a lot of noise where not the best teams in there.  I have to say that if these girls concentrated on their swimming as much as their chanting they may swim a lot better.  Maddie and her team where not wasting their time chanting and looking like pom pom girls, they were there to swim and get it done. But in all it was interesting watching Maddie as it is her first year of swim and she never swam before either.  She has picked it up quickly and is doing real well. I am glad that she has gone out for swim and I wish she had her freshman year but better late then never.  I don't know her results as it was a relay event and they don't post them anywhere that I know of,  But I will try to make as many as I can to cheer her and the team on.

Nate went to the ABR team time trial national championships to ride with Max, Matt and Sam on a 4 man team.  They never rode together and they did real well as they took 2nd place.  The first [lace team was Garrett, Kaleb, Kevin and Peter and they beat Nate's team by 3 minutes and then the 3rd place was 14 minutes behind Nate's team.  But he had fun and said it was worth the trip and as always a fun time hanging with the ISCorp gang for a few days.  Later..

Here is a cool picture of Nate right before the finish of the race in Gate Way and I like the look on his face.  Pretty cool look as he crosses the line.  Later..

Here is a picture of Nate that we had made by Easy Canvas Prints.  They do an awesome job of taking a picture and putting it on canvas and we are super happy with how it turned out.  Nate liked this print as he is sprinting away from the field  for on e of the primes at the State Championship crit race and looking back at the field.  We just ordered another on of Nate winning the the Gate Way race with his hands in the air.  So take a look at the web site on my side bar and order some real cool prints.   https://www.easycanvasprints.com/ 

WINNING

Here is a picture of Nate coming across the line for the win at the Gate Way cup race.  A friend of his sent it to us.  Later..

Going for it

Here is a photo from the weekend racing in St Louis.  This is from the race on Sunday when Nate won the race.  This is the sprint to the finish and Nate played it right to where he used up the other 2 guys to out sprint them to the line for the win.

Tonight was the last Beat Down ride as the sun is going away to fast and the Fat Tire 40 is next week and some of the riders are gone for the race.  But if you want to have a ride go for it and have fun.  But the ride was a fast one tonight as Luke and the gang kept it real and the pace high and smooth making it nice and Easier for me to hang on.  But as always when the group rides are done it means one thing, time to charge the lights and get ready for some night rides.  Well time for some pot pies and Packers.  Later..

Nate and Gateway

Jess giving Nate a pep talk before his race.

Nate in the Leaders jersey that gave him.

Nate going off at the start of the race.

Nate on the back stretch.

Kaleb on the 3rd box at the race.

Well after making the trip to St Louis to get the rear derailluer hanger to Nate and to have him race the last race in the Gate Way cup I had to stay home today with a eye infection. But the trip with Richard and Jessica was a fun time and well worth it. Nate was in the leaders jersey so the trip to watch him race worth the 15 hours of driving in a 24 hour period. Kaleb ended up taking 3rd in the race and then Nate in 12th and Kevin in 22nd in the race. We left after the race as we had a 7 hour drive back and Nate would have been tied in the points from what we figured with the overall omnium lead but we got his payout and jersey and left. But like I said it was worth the trip to get the chance to watch the boys race and all the laughs in the truck on the way home. Now I need to get more eye drops in the sore eye. Later..

Win / Road Trip

Got the message and the phone call today that Nate took the win at the Gate Way cup race today. There was a crash in the race that took a bunch out again and Nate toasted his carbon wheel set again so he is on his regular wheels tomorrow. But the big bummer is that the SRAM support guy slammed the support wheel out by pounding on the top of it and broke Nate's rear deraiuiler hanger off the bike. I thought I tossed some in his bag but Nate can't find them so I am going to drive to St Louis and take one to him. I am making the trip as Randy has to head home and Nate would miss the race tomorrow and with his win today he is in the leaders jersey so there is no way that I would want him to miss the last race. I am also bringing Kaleb and Kevin home as they want to race tomorrow and would have had to leave too. So on way down I will pick up Richard ( Kaleb's Dad ) for the ride down and back. Nice to have someone to drive with me and Jessie wants to go so it should be a fun road trip. Got to get ready to leave for the 6 1/2 hour drive. Later..

Update time

Been a little busy here with the start of school and getting Nate off to St Louis with the Roth family and a few of the ISCorp Jr kids. Thanks Randy for taking Nate. Nate raced yesterday and was trying to move up in the later of the race and failed to and the result was a 21st place finish. He said he had good legs and was feeling good but was disappointed in his finish as was goint to try to make up for it today. Well he did as he took a 2nd place and Kaleb a 3rd, Peter 14th and Kevin 23rd. More racing tomorrow and hopefully a solid race again.

Maddie has had swim practice and they painted the locker room last night and today. She went to the St Thomas More game today and it presently tired and I think in bed. Her first meet is Thursday and I am looking forward to attending and seeing this thing they call a swim meet. Should be a fun time and I hope she does well.

Jeesie has just been happy that school started and she gets to hang out with her friends again. Last night a few of her friends were at the St Francis Days festival so Cece and I took her there and watched as Jess and her friends run around doing all the games and playing on the Bungee jump, mechanical bull and many other really cool kid actives. Oh yeah we now have a goldfish that she won there, I wonder how that thing will live?

Cece has been busy with school starting and running around now as she is the math teacher leader for 3 school instead of just 1 now. That is going to keep her pretty busy and running everyday for the school year.

I did the Thursday ride and with the heat and some miss timed being in the wrong spot at the wrong time I pulled the plug and Danny, Kyle and myself rolled the ride by ourselves and had a solid ride. Yesterday I had a furlough day so after dropping the girls off at school I went to Lenn's and paid for some things and then went for a nice ride a Crystal Ridge. The trails were in great shape and it was fun running into some other riders that I have not seen in a while. Then today I was talked into going to the kettles. I thought better but went anyhow as it was fine at the start and the trails were a little wet but we go across and were part of the way to Emma and skies opened up and we got off at a road crossing a headed back to the parking lot talking the road back. I think that they may be closed for sure tomorrow and maybe Monday after the rain that we got caught in. Going to be a nice easy ride with Cece and the girls tomorrow. Just pulling the fixie out and riding with them and maybe stopping at the coffee shop during the ride. So that is what is happening. Later..