Painfully Close

Less than 3 days out from the Dirty Kanza 200. Short thoughts:

-Almost 250 participants this year, more than doubling the amount of last year

-Beautifully hard course

-Feeling way more confident than any year past

-High temps in forecast but surprisingly not worried

-On my fastest bike I have ever rode

The Superfly at rest. Hopefully the beast will be ready Saturday!

Fat Tire Festival

Quick video of the race. I am on the start line on the right. Notice me dropping back very fast haha.

Wilson Lake Race from bob arnold on Vimeo.

Went down to Wilson Lake for the Fat Tire Festival. Had a good time even though the trail was pretty long for a XC race. Took about 2 and a half hours to finish. Ended up 4th or so. Possibly may have got 3rd but no way to figure out the actual finishing order so didn't want to bitch so I guess 4th will have to do for now.

The race was insanely hot and took the power right out of me. Anyway just wanted to do a short post. Racing in St. Joe MO this weekend.

The whole team was pretty much there with a strong showing from everyone including, Matt, Aaron, Bobby, Randy, Mike, Steph, Dustin, and Dusty. Jed also came down from Emporia and did his first race and had a good race finishing I think 2nd.

-Seagato

Still Alive.

First things first(like there would be any other spot for the first thing?), Matt Brown has joined the blogging word. Check that out HERE

Told myself I wouldn't do another update 'til after school was done for the semester but figured a quick update couldn't hurt. Hope you like short and sweet.

Bikes Relaxing Before Ouchita Challenge

Raced in Ouachita Challenge(Place 51st...just missed the goal of top 50) and had a blast with all the team who all went down.

Bone Bender

Two weeks later I headed up to Lawrence KS for the River Trail race. Got first place in the Expert/Cat 1 19-29 years old class.

Bone Bender: Mouth Open = Painful Ride

The week right after Lawrence I would head up to the Bone Bender 6 Hour Race in north Kansas City where I would learn very quickly that a week of recovery that is made up of teaching spinning 7 times in a week is impossible. I would ride like a small child and just held on to what little power I had to finish respectable(not sure what the exact place was, didn't care to look yet).

Well that's about it. Racing at Wilson Lake, Fat Tire Festival this weekend then next weekend heading up to Robidoux Roundup in St. Joe, MI.

-Seagato

P.S. 38 Days until the Dirty Kanza 200....I'm so screwed haha can't wait!

Have You Met My Friend Matt?

If you have not got a chance to meet my good friend Matt Brown and his wife Stephani I believe tomorrow, Wednesday, is the day you should. They are opening their new shop downtown, 520 Commercial in Emporia KS if you want specifics, and I couldnt be happier for them.

Yes, there are in fact great products behind those brown papers in the window.

They bust their tails 24/7, literally 24/7 to keep our team and fellow riders happy. Dont beleive me, example time then, called Matt at his home and he came down to the shop at 10 p.m. to get me some tires to go race the next day because I was not happy my choice I had made. They bought a new building, secured all our team sponsors, completely rebuilt their new building, continued training and kept the old shop all running at once...Yes they are that good!

These two are also responsible for my addiction to bikes. They donated a bike to a giveaway that I happened to win. Dang them and their kindness! Thats why this couldnt of happened to a better couple of people. Anyway, I could go one forever on how great they are but you should really go down and check out the new shop ASAP! I got a sneak peak today and wow!! Prepare to be amazed... so get down there now! As for me I got some new tires that need mounted for Ouachita so off to go do that.

-Seagato

P.s. If its been away since you have made it into Flint Hills Music you should swing by there as well as they just updated their shop as well.

Famous? Not Yet.

Well here it is. CLICK HERE for the Adventure Monkey Magazine. Its a collection of articles meant to inspire you to get outdoors and become active. I was lucky enough to get asked to come on board and right a section on heart rate. I got to run though. Its about to be the longest week of my life and fallowed by going to Arkansas to race so I need to get down to business. Enjoy the Mag!
Link time,
All the contributing writers:
Anne Marie Garrett(nice looking last name there)
Shawn Honea
Lelan Daines
Robert Garcia
Rebecca Martin
The Browns
Randy Rasa
Mike Wise
Adam Didde
Rob White
Bobby Wintle

Enjoy and check all those people out if you can!

-Seagato

Yours Truly

Check it out! Monkey gave me gifts at the release party! Full write up to come later...I am off to KC to go see my brothers finally after last nights snow storm put a stop to that real fast.

I am photogenic...right?

Spring "not so much of a" Break

You know the saying...Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, strike three! I feel like I may have that wrong...who knows. Anyhow, long story short, come to find out my phone did not update with the time change and I finally missed a day of Spinning. To my credit I still showed up "on time" according to my cell phone just in time to watch them do stretching.

In other exciting news, did a VO2MAX test on Mr. Tim J. Mohn(made up middle initial for dramatic affect). This was the first time for me to help with running the test, have actually been the test subject in the past. It was a great learning experience and starting in the next week or so I will be able to run the test on my own...so if interested let me know. I am in the process of developing the bike version of the test for ESU which has me really excited.

Also big weekend coming up, Adventure Monkey Magazine party Saturday if you didnt know! Then after that its off to KC for a Seacat brother reunion. A Seacat reunion gaurantees three things will happen:

1. Me and little Seacat will accidently break a car window(long story)

2. I will end up kicking in a locked door(even longer story)

3. Blackout

In order L to R. Marine, Doctor, Bicyclist.

Thats about it for now. If your bored I found a couple links worth a view that should help your Friday move right along.

That's What She (Courtney) Said: Older brothers girl friends blog...she is somewhat witty(just kidding Court) and has some gross/funny stories about med school.

World Cup Race Coverage: Video from a World Cup race up in Canada last season. Great video and a couple girls that are easy on the eyes, as well on bikes. What I like to call a win/win/win.

Have a good weekend

-Seagato

Hello Fun...How I Have Missed You

Last night got the chance to hang out and knock back a couple beers with some of the guys. Probably was not the best idea seeing as I felt like crap because of allergies but still had a blast and strangely was able to get to bed before 2 in the morning (not something that usually happens when I go out).

Carb loading

Anyhow, today I had planned to get in one last intense long ride before calming the training down for Ouachita, which is 2 weeks away as of today, but that wasn't what happened at all.

Tim hit me up for 60 road at a fast pace but being a little under the weather I was forced to decline and actually made the choice that I was going to just stay in and relax. After about 2 hours of picking up the apartment followed by cleaning off my iPod and iPhone of music I dont listen to anymore I became motivated to go ride atleast for 45 minutes to spin my legs out.

I knew I was off to a bad start when I got a few blocks out and realized my new stem was not even close to straight and was forced to stop and adjust it. Then I came to notice the angle of my bars was a little off and was not in the mood to get off again so rode the entire ride with them that way.


Did about 10 miles and stopped to turn around, change my music, and take a pee...I dont know if it was from the change of music or the empty bladder but once back on my bike my mentality finally changed for the better. Up to that point every pedal stroke had me wanted to throw my bike away and quit riding. With this new found excitement I headed into a couple roads I had never been on before and had a blast. Wasn't putting down any record times but got a chance to just listen to some music, set up and enjoy the air, and just take everything in.

New favorite area to ride in

My legs never really got under my the whole ride but still rode strong for the last hour and even talked myself into stopping and taking this picture (I know I am not Adventure Monkey when it comes to pictures). Well thats about all I got today but getting excited for the Ouachita Challange just trying to decide on my final tire choice.

-Seagato

Nothing to New

Well thanks to the Adventure Monkey my sites popularity has grown(the mentions of my nice thighs and fast speed are what i think are key to my sites growth, thanks again monkey man). Sounds like he will be throwing a release party for the magazine, I cant wait(little does the monkey know that this gato[thats spanish for cat for you none espanol speakers{espanol is spanish for spanish for you really white readers}] knows how to party)!

And yes that would be a Seagato blog first back there...use of parathesis, brackets, and curly braces! I feel like they are not used right but damn it looks good.

But in other good news I got out this weekend with our largest group ride of the year to date(I think it was 11, I refuse to do math on weekends). It was a great chance for everyone to catch up and have a chance to chat...Jim Cummins made the trip down from KC to put some gravel miles in and check out some routes for the DK200 version 2011. The ride for the most part was a decent pace until about 30-ish miles and it turned into a race all of a sudden. Matt, Jim, Tim, Chris, Mike, and myself would make a break. Long story short it was a painful sprint all the way into Americus and I was able to just edge out Chris for the city limit honors.

Not much else to say today, my little brother is making his way back to the USA from his time spent over in Japan for the Marines so thats about my biggest highlight I got.

-Seagato

Laps 4 Landon

Few people had asked to see this logo that was made for Laps 4 Landon. Landon Dody was born with Cystic Fibrosis, a disease which causes thick mucus build up in the lungs and stomach and can cause life threatening breathing and panceatic problems. I got involved with the event last year when a class I took helped organize the event and I loved it so much I want to help out again ths year anyway I could so I got the chance to make the logo again! Below is a picture of the logo, time and date of the event so I hope to see all of you there(ya its far away so plenty of time to plan ahead!).

The idea for the logo was that when I first got to meet Landon he walked in with his mom holding her hand and always kind of stuck in my head so check it out.

Anyway big group ride today so hope to have some pictures up tomorrow of the good times to be had. I am gitty with excitement, feel like a little kid, just ready to be outside again with everyone.

Dirty Kanza 200 Video Teaser

Short post but just wanted to throw up a little preview(more of just throwing some short clips together than anything) of the documentary I am planning on trying to pull together for the Dirty Kanza 200 focusing on training and what not.

Also got some good riding in the last few days with the nice weather out. Riding outside again just makes everything seem so right. Hard to describe but just good for the soul. Anyway enjoy the short video and hopefully it makes you want to ride.

Dirty Kanza 200 Teaser from Garret Seacat on Vimeo.

Short preview of the start of the video I plan on doing to document the race and training of the Dirty Kanza 200 this year(2010). Thanks to Lelan for some of the clips. Enjoy!

-Seagato

P.s. CLICK HERE for the link to the amazing video IM Design did last year.

Busy Busy Busy

Got some grief from some readers about no new updates so had to throw one down really fast. I have been crazy busy with writing an article for the Adventure Monkey and Bobby's brain child, "Kansas Bicycling Magazine", designed a team t-shirt for the High Gear squad, designing a couple other t-shirts for people around the community(one is Laps 4 Landon, which is a great event that benefits a young boy that I believe is three and is fighting cystic fibrosis and all the money thats raised goes to finding a cure), and also getting all the sizes for everyone on the team to get the jerseys order...which reminds me here is the new design for the 2010 team...Shawn at IM Design once again killed it!! Check them out! If you get a chance check out the sponsor links on the side...they do alot for us and we try to give back as much as possible.


Also on a side note thanks to Wiggins and Matt for hooking it up with the team stickers again! Before I forget I got a chance to check out Aaron's sick Trek 9.9 today when it was in the shop for repairs...makes my Superfly feel like a tank! Its 5 lbs lighter...just not fair. Stupid 26er haha

-Seagato

...

Nothing really to talk about lately...sick of the cold which leads to way to much time on youtube and vimeo and every now and then come across a pretty decent movie or two.

I found this video of some crazy cross race and thought it was worth a watch. Check it out and enjoy. Also Lelan has a great video on his blog as well...check it out HERE

And yes the blog is still a work in progress just got busy with school and work again so the finishing touches have been put on hold for now...hope you like the new layout...which reminds me I owe Matt some t-shirt designs(I knew this blog was good for something).

Raleigh SSCXWC from Saleigh on Vimeo.

Just a little bit of fun at SSCXWC09.

-Seagato

ITS HERE!

2010 Gary Fisher Superfly!!! Came in today about 2-3 weeks early!! Guess being on a Trek/Fisher team pays off.

Matt told me to come down to the shop to get a box that came in for me...assuming it was just some socks or some other silly part I ordered from long ago. I walked into the shop and Matt told me to go check in the bathroom because he ran out of room so being the fool I am, I just walked in and looked around for a small box to only notice the only box in the room was a bike box...I checked the side and it said "Superfly 21in." and I almost fainted...ok maybe not but all smiles from that point on.

I threw it together in a hurry...and this thing is crazy light...talking sub 23 lbs for an XL frame...ya thats right, thats not a typo(even though I am notorious for those). Thats also with tubes and the heavier handle bars on too! This baby is going to be crazy light for the DK200.

Anyway, Matt helped me so I could get out of his joint so they could close and then I ran home to finish it up. I called up Dustin on the way home because like any true bike fanatic I knew he would enjoy tinkering with it. He went straight to work on the brakes(which I normally won't let others touch it because I like setting things up on my own but he has the same attention of detail on putting together a new bike that I like so I knew it was all good) while I changed out the RL bar for the XXX bar. Also tossed on the XTR pedals and Bontrager RXL water bottle cages and then we sprinted outside like little kids to ride it around.



I was very impressed so far but tomorrow will be its maiden voyage so for tonight I have to relax and get some major homework and reading done...damn this school thing...to think I pay for this. Lata suckas!

-Seagato

p.s. I know the background image is having trouble loading for alot of people and trying to address it right now but thinking it may finally be time to start an actual webpage and be done with this damn "blogger" website crap

First Century of 2010

I know I left out a update from last weeks ride but I was feeling lazy so you can just check out the blog links in the post below somewhere...sorry. I do have a new post about yesterdays ride though so that should be worth something right? On Saturday I had actually planned on a 100 mile solo venture but never been happier that it turned into a group ride. Dustin Burgadt(also a great head shot of yours truly on his most recent post), Tim Mohn, Scott O'Mara, and myself all got together and headed out despite the wet roads and horrific wind. Everyone road strong and made great time for a mostly headwind of 20+ mph. This ride would once again go to show how putting road bike tires on a mountain bike, does not in anyway make it a road bike...especially if I get lazy and leave the front fork on. The real turning point of the ride would be just short of 50 miles when we took a road over a huge lake(not sure which one this was) but the wind tore us apart! I was able to snag some pictures during it of everyone. Scott would feel the pain of riding a mountain bike and snag a ride at 70 miles(still impressive to me for riding with a mountain bike with crows on it and keeping up 'till then). The three of us would continue on fighting for city limit sprints despite the pain with everyone winning one in the three cities. Dustin would take honors of the Emporia sprint when he pulled away a mile or so away and me and Tim just had nothing left to pull him back...nicely played.

This ride was for sure a great fitness boost but hurt mentally a couple times when we would stop and it hits you just how much farther and harder the DK200 is. Still I have no intention of peaking for the DK200 but still want to have a better showing aka not DNF-ing. My legs felt like rubber and stomach was all upside down and inside out after the ride(cheap pizza will have that affect, or is it effect? shit who knows) but after a quick meal with Dustin followed by some nachos and some dark chocolate all was right again. Ride ended at just short of 105 so not bad for a January training ride. Well that's about all I really have for now. I am going ahead and put a link to The Adventure Monkeys blog HERE. This guy takes some awesome pictures and his post are usually worth a read. Also I got a name drop on the the Dirty Kanza 200 blog HERE. Its an old post but I just now saw it on a lazy day when searching the web. Also Lelan is signed up for a 24 Hour race. Good luck brotha and get on that bike!

Quick Post For Midget

Fell off the map this week just being busy with school, work, and training...needless to say I'm home today sick but it hasn't been a totally loss. My little brother Matt aka Midget sent me his bike to put together for him for when he gets back from the Marines. Little preview picture below for him as I work on it.
In other news I did about 75 miles last Sunday with the team and a few other guys from around. Had a great time and still feel like an ass because I made us pick up the pass and ended up ripping the group apart in the last 40 miles...my bad guys. I'll have a full write up maybe later this week but check out a good one at Bobby's blog or Eric Benjamin's blogs. Both good and humors.

Well I am heading back into my little shop to knock out Midgets bike for him so I can give it a little bit of a ride. Couple mornings ago I forgot I took these pictures below of my daily energy boosters for the day...Special K followed by large amounts of coffee.

Teaser

Today the team got a sneak peek at the new team jerseys for 2010...very very sexy indeed. Shawn at IM Design has once again out done himself! Sadly the design doesnt get to go public for a few more months...just had to mention it because its all coming together beautifully.

But other than that just getting busy with school and all that jazz. High hope that the weather stays high enough to melt all this crap off the roads by next weekend. Also got a little bored with the design of my header so went ahead and updated it real fast.

Well time it run...my 5:45 a.m. spinning class at Emporia Fitness comes way to early most days but damn I love it and all my addicted clients that show up. And yes that reads 5:10 and which equals being up at 4:40 a.m.

-Seagato

Happy to Start School Again

Well today was the first day of classes and it felt good to be back mainly for the reason that once school starts its time to get down to business on the training side. So with decent weather today I was able to sneak out this afternoon for an extremely easy recovery ride. With all the Spinning I teach, time on the real bike on most days is limited to easy to moderate right now to prevent over training but damn it felt good today! Nothing better than the cool crisp air. Anyway time to get some much needed sleep in.

-Seagato

JERSEY DESIGN IS HERE!

Its here! The design for the 2010 Team High Gear Racing! Check it out below!

Haha Ya right! The design is in the process though and the guys at IM Design are doing a killer job on it so far. Cant wait to see what Sean pulls out of that mind of his. Also Matt gave me the chance to put my graphic design skills back to use and designed the new logo for his skateboard line...check it out below.

In other news I have kicked my 2010 training into high gear(no pun intended). I of coarse am still teaching Spinning 5 days a week at Emporia Fitness still but finally adding in some more time on the real bike now that the weather is clearing up and also started lifting. I forgot just how much I love lifting...its been bringing out the old power lifter in me lately and I have to just try to keep it calm because that kind of lifting has no purpose in cycling.

Well thats about all I got for today. If you get bored I highly recommend doing a google seach of Dirty Kanza 200 2010 and checking out all the results...really exciting stuff.

-Seagato

P.S. Lelan I am straight up killing you in blog update amounts lately...suck it!

Snow+Bikes+Planet Sub=Pefection

Well yesterday I told Dustin I would be coming out to ride with him at the Smith estates and it ended up being a pretty decent sized group ride including myself, Matt Brown, Jed Sampsel, Dustin, and Randy. We were even so lucky go to have "LowKee" fallow us as we played in the snow. It was great to be outside for once!

The ride consisted of riding for about 50 yards and then laughing at who ever fell down for the most time so it was a good time to be had by all. I have some other pictures but may post those later for now I am exhausted and going to lay down and watch a movie.

Before I forget I got registered for my 3rd attempt at the DK200. I cant wait! This is an epic race in the b-e-a-utiful flint hills! I highly recommend checking this race out...well its full now but for the future if you didnt make the cut. Jim and Joel really know how to put on one hell of an event. I just did a google searched it and wow there is a real buzz about it this year and cant wait for everyone to come see what we have to offer...150+ entries is going to make this the best DK200 to date...not to mention starting and finishing in downtown Emporia!

Anyway time to run...below Matt enjoying his sandwich...good way to end a perfect day.

Did I mention I am pumped for the Dk200? Just thought I would mention that again!

Like Christmas All Over Again

Well last night I checked my credit card to notice I had been charged for about half of the stuff I had ordered for from Trek and to my suprise it showed up today down at High Gear! Sadly it will still be a couple months or so before the Superfly makes its showing because of being back ordered but for now this was a plesent late xmas gift. Either way still just out of control with happiness to be a part of this awesome team thats paired up with Trek and all our other great sponsors!


So this pretty much ruined my plans of cleaning the apartment today and resulted in my playing with all the new toys and gear all afternoon. A little teaser photo of some of the tasty treats I got today below.

Well I need to get to the gym and lift and teach spinning. In the words of Matt Brown, "Have a good one!"

Also I am working on our Team High Gear Racing facebook page so soon you can fallow the team on there. And we added an 11th team member this week...Aaron Elwell...another great rider and awesome guy to add to the team. Happy to have him abord!

X-Mas Break

First of hope everyones holidays went off great! I had a good one relaxing with the family. Well took a few weeks off from training hard and tried to get in some good relaxation during the holidays. As pictured below even my beer was in the festive mood...a good sign it was a good break from the bike.

Even had some chance to get in some quality time with my loving lab "Camp" back home!

While at home I did a couple runs since I made the choice not to bring the bike home...big mistake...I was insanely sore and thinking I will be sticking to the bike for a good amount of time from this point on. Also joined the local high school basketball team for a few practices to keep the legs loose and had a great time even though my jump shot has lost its touch it was still a awesome workout.

On the way out and back had to drive by the biggest attraction south west Kansas has to offer...yep thats right...windmills...be jealous!


Well thats about all I got...time to get back to work on the bike.