Pictures of Fast guys

Here are some pictures of some of the fast guys in the 40. Not in any order but we know who the real fast guys are.

Weekend recap

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. The 1st is Bob coming down some single track and the gang waiting one of the many times for John. I thought that Randy staying home we wouldn't have to wait as many times this year but I was wrong. The waiting a side it still was a great ride. The others pictures are of us on race day. First is Christine at the start of the race and then Nate and myself also at the start. Then the last is one of Nate, Evan and myself at the end of the race.

The race went well as Nate took off and it took me almost 6 miles to catch up to him after the road start. The start was fast and the single speed limited me so as the people flew by I just did damage control best I could. I road the race in a perfect gear and never felt as if it was to big or to small except on the lead out and the gravel road. When I finally caught Nate he was riding with Evan and the 2 of them were trading pulls and staying on wheels of the riders in the group real nice. As we hit the Birkie trails Nate was able to get in a group and hang with them and Evan just missed the group and we didn't see him till the race was over. I rode with Nate for the rest of the race and when ever he got winded I backed it off and when he recovered we would slowly amp up the pace. he rode strong till the finish and I rode across the line right after him. It was great to ride the race with Nate as I think in the next one one I may never catch him. He finished 2nd in age and 49th overall and I was still able to finish 3rd in single speed class and 50th overall. The race weekend was fun and we can't wait till next year. Later..

Back home

We just got back from the race and it was a good weekend. Nate took 2nd in age and 49th out of 839 racers and I took a 3rd in single speed and 50th. More to come later. Later..

Fat Tire time

Heading to the fat tire race tomorrow. Got the bikes ready, the bags are are packed and we are going to load the truck to head to the race at 6:30am. This is going to be Nate's first time to do the short and fat. He has a preferred start and I think he should do OK. I'm also doing the short and fat on the single speed again and I also have a preferred start. We are looking forward to do the race together and I hope not to get beat by him by to much. I think if he can hold my wheel he has a chance to be in the top 3. I took 3rd in the single speed last year and I hope to be one of the top again. Nate is going to come up on Friday with Marty and Dylan so he should have a fun ride up. Thanks Marty for bringing him up. Good luck to those coming up for the race and stop by and say hi at the condo. Time to make sure everything is in order. Later..

Russell's Supermate of the Week

Here is a picture of Russell's Supermate hiding the air she took from Russell's bike tire at the race on Sunday.

End of Rhinelander

Here is a picture of how I looked after the race in Rhinelander. Thanks for the picture Bubba. I was dirty from the crash and you can see the gouge in the right leg just under the number plate. Felt like I got run over by a truck ( well maybe not ) but run over by some thing by the end of the race. I finished the race riding in the granny gear ( the one Randy always rides in on his geared bike) the final 2 laps. After hitting all the courses now I think this was the best one of the year. I hope it is back next year and I will hit the spring ride if we can fit it in. Time to go ride. Later..

Sunburst

Today we showed up at the Sunburst Showdown and raced like we always have there. Maddie took a 3rd place, Nate also took a 3rd place and I took a 6th. We all noted that we have never raced well there and have decided that the race is just one that haunts us. Maybe it is the lack of single track, the rolling grass, the hill the list could go on for ever but we seem to never do well. Maddie had a bad up hill on the mowed grass weaving trail and never recovered. Nate got a stick in the wheel in the last mile and never was able to pass the 2nd place racer. Me I just died on lap 3 and went backwards. The knee was bothering me but the hills bothered me more and I just had a bad race. 2 more to do and then bmx and cross, we can't wait. Later..

Blown out

today was the first football game for Nate and the other team just blew them away. The first half they were down by 14 and then the other team just tore it up and scored another 3 times in the 2nd half. The cool thing is that everyone has to play at least half the game but the other thing about that is that some play that are not that good. The other team played a few guys the entire game that were as big as this guy so that was not cool. But the thing is that we learned that we need to get these kids moving their feet and learning the play book. More then once the running backs ran into the QB and messed things up. Well enough of that.

We went to the course to pre ride for the race tomorrow. Boy I think this has to be the most boring course we race. There is nothing but up hill and a small chunk of single track and then the rest of the time is spent riding on areas of mowed grass. But hey it is a race in the series and being only 40 minutes from home a must do for us. See you tomorrow at Sunburst and to the others racing Palos Good Luck.

Flying new colors

The girls painted my toe nails the other night. The other colors wore off so they said I needed a new coat. The thing is I have never cared about them painting the toe nails and they have been doing it for like 8 or 9 years now. Last year when I was off for the summer because of the banged up fingers they painted the finger nails and I left it on for the NORBA Nationals and our entire trip out west. I did get a few looks like I was weird but who cares as maybe I am. Well tomorrow it is the first football game so Nate is looking over the play book and then getting to bed early for a good night of rest. Then we are off to the race course for a lap or 2 hen back home for a good night sleep. Good luck to those racing the Palos race. Thanks Rachael again for getting my ride rolling right again. Later..

More of the same

Tonight was more of the same tonight. Got home from a long day at the airport testing the airplane de-icers. got a quick ride on the rollers and then it was off to Nate's football practice. The practice went OK and the first game is this weekend and I hope that they are ready. I think that they will do OK but there is a lot of room for improvement. I hope everything goes good and we can pull off a win, just have to wait and see. Also tonight the mosquitoes were out and sucking the blood out of all of us. It has been a large can of OFF each night. Man that is getting old and I'm turning into a walking OFF can. I'm itching in spots I didn't know a bug could get to. Time to go and scratch and try to sleep without scratching till I bleed. Later..

9/5

Well it was more football practice tonight and no biking for me. Well the way the leg was maybe it is a good thing that I have a few extra days off to make sure that the healing is complete before I really keep trying to ride. I hope that I'm able to go at the race this weekend but there is still a few more and then I can rest it up before we hit the bmx and cross season. nothing going on except the itching more bug bites. Later..

Blood suckers

Tonight at Nate's football practice these little suckers took at least a pint out me. The practice went well as Nate popped a guy again while on defense and didn't give up a play to his side. He is doing better each practice so I hope he gets in the game a lot. Their first game on Sat so we should see how prepared they are. They play the strongest team and I hope that they are ready. Time to go and scratch some bug bites. Later..

Looking OK

The leg is doing OK I think. It's not bad or real good either. There is no infection which was my main concern. The flap of skin graft is turning black and should fall off down the road. I'm just hoping that it will heal over the wound in time. The entire process will take a couple of months as it has in the past for smaller wounds. The bruise is working it's way through now nicely, I think that is from the riding the last couple of days. The knee cap still hurts where the main cut is and I think that got bruised from the impact and it is better each day also. The only time it really hurts is when I put hard pressure riding up hill seated. Hopefully it will be better by the weekend.

Nothing but a easy ride pulling Jessie on the trail a bike on the single speed. I did have to take Cece's bike and ride home to get a tube for Nate's road bike as he got a flat and I didn't bring a road tube. No problem they were by the lake and it was cool there and I got a nice 10 mile time trial in. Then it was getting chores done and now we are watching Flushed Away. Time for some popcorn and Kool Aid. Later..

Fun at Palos

The Gang waiting for Jerry.
Nate practing his track stands waitng for Jerry.

We went and rode at Palos today for a change. Thanks to Chris for leading the way so we never got lost. There is some sweet single track out there and you can ride for hours and barely ride the trails twice. It was a blast and have to try it again down the road. The only complaint is that you can ride it either way and there were a lot of riders coming in the other direction. I was coming into the last 1/2 mile and some idiot with and Ipod on was riding towards me and never moved or even heard me. I went to the right and he moved slightly in the same direction and I went over the top and took one of his bar ends in the ribs. That wasn't the only crash as Jerry was also taken out by some goof. Most of the others moved over or we did but there were a few real stupid ones out there. The next time there it has to be early to avoid the other riders. Oh yea thanks Rachael. The Jrs were riding awesome today and taking everything that was thrown at them. It was a blast to follow them. I rode the single speed and Jerry told me the perfect gear and was a blast to ride it again on the single track and a few nice long hills. The leg felt OK as the area around the knee cap was sore but very tolerable. I'm hoping that it will be fine by the next race. Time to cook some chicken. Later..

North Point Beach

Today Nate and I rode our bikes from the house to North Point Beach in Racine to meet Cece and the girls along with her Bro and his family. Oh yea her Mom showed up to. We swam and tossed the football around for a while. Then we went to her Mom's house and cooked out and sat and watched the badgers beat Washington. It was a nice relaxing day. The leg felt OK and was a little tight and sore for the ride but it feels better each day. The bruise is looking better and hopefully it will be OK for the ride at Palos tomorrow. Time to get to bed. Later..

Here are a few pictures from our ride at the Rhinelander course on Friday. I rode the spin bike today for a 1/2 hour and the leg hurt like hell. After the ride it felt better as the swelling went way down so hopefully tomorrow it will feel even better. I 'm going to try to do a longer ride on Sat and see how that goes. Time to watch the Packers mess up the rest of the game. Later..

Still hurt'n

The leg is feeling better today as I put a wrap on it all day and the swelling was kept down more. The skin graft was not as tight do to the swelling of the leg so it was much more comfortable. The bruise is beginning to really show up and that hurts more then the large hole where the skin was torn up. The real good thing is that I don't feel the tare in the skin graft as I know that it would probably hurt otherwise. The bruise is was hurts as the muscle is really messed up. I still can't bend the leg or crouch down as it just won't let me. Maybe tomorrow or Friday that will come to me. The thing that is killing me is that I can't get on the bike. I just miss the riding and hope that come back soon. I just have to be patient and wait for the leg to heal.

Nate had football again and that is going pretty good. He had the best hit of the day as he drove the running back that weighs as much as I do back and dropped him. It was a great hit and the other coaches loved it. A few more of those and we will have to start calling him Jack Tatum. They started defence today and he needs some on the pass coverage but after a little work he will pick it up and he should be fine. He also was at running back and he was running the ball pretty good considering it was the first time. He also was hitting the holes nice and kept his moving and picked up yards after contact. It is fun to see. I'm helping coach now so that should be interesting but it is fun. Time for me to look at the play books so I can help out when I'm coaching. Later..

Yea they are back to school

From the looks on the faces I think only Jessica, myself and Cece were happy that they went back to school yesterday. It was a uneventful day for them as it was only a half a day and then it rained. Today it was 90 plus and they don't have air in the classrooms so they had to sweat alittle, good for them I think as it builds character. Tonight Nate has football and then get to get my leg up as it is still swollen and hurts like hell. I hope it gets better in the next day or so. well time to go to the chiropractor. Later..

Ouch

Here is a picture of the cut to my leg. The flap of skin is already dieing and I imagine that it will fall off in a couple of days. The leg is swollen up and sore as f'in hell. All this is do to a idiot from Minnesota that tried to go inside of me is a area that had a caution sign up and took both of us down. The goof wasn't even in my age group. He did stop and say he was sorry and that he didn't know why he tried to do that and that he thought he had room. The crash took a good chunk of skin and muscle and caused a lot of pain and blood for the rest of the race. I also lost my left shift lever and only had the granny gear for the rest of the race. I only got passed by 1 guy in my group until I got a flat 1.5 miles from the finish and then 2 more racers in my age passed me. I ended up 5th in age and I was running 2nd in age and top 5 overall until the crash. That sucked. I think that it may have been my last WORS race this year unless the leg heals up and gets fine before the last couple of races. I hope that the leg is ready for the Cheq. race in a few weeks. Maddie won her race, Cece took 2nd and Nate took 3rd. The course was great and is one of my favorite races to date in WORS. Time to get the leg up. Later..

NO MORE TREES

Today we didn't cut anymore trees for once. I did get on the roof and clean the chimney though. I washed the truck, my car and my parents SUV, cleaned 3 bikes and pre rode the race course today and I can still smell the soot from the chimney cleaning. We rode the course for the race and it is really nice. It is about 40% track and the rest is logging road. The single track is about 70% passable so the faster riders should be able to pass without offending anyone will be fine. There are a few slight up hills but nothing really that though so I think you won't see to many people getting off their bikes ( unless Randy is here ). The course is as dry as a bone as we have only gotten a half of an inch of rain over the last week up here. There is enough sand, rocks and roots to keep everyone happy and slow the rest of them down. I think the guys who are putting the race on have done a great job and I really like the course and think most of the others will to. I'm going back tomorrow to pre ride it once more and then come back and relax before the race. See ya at the race. Later..

More trees to cut

Today we cut the last of the trees that fell from the storm last month. I haven't made it to the course for the race this weekend but Christine has a great description on her blog. There has not been that much rain this week up here and it should make the course great for the race this Sunday. I did get out for another ride today and the fire roads are in great shape. I plan on getting over to the course tomorrow and Saturday before the race to check out the conditions so I will try to get a post later. Going to sit back and watch the Packers and have a few cold ones. Later..

Rerun

More of the same today and yesterday as we cut down a few more of the trees that were snapped off half way up from the storms. We finally got out for a ride today after the work was done. It was a nice 2 hour fire road ride. Going to try to get over to the race course for a ride in the next day or 2 and then on Sat for the pre ride. Tomorrow it is cutting up 2 more trees that were snapped in half and then maybe I can sit back and relax on vacation for a day or 2. See ya at the race. Later..