Come on!

Just thought i would vent a little frustration about how in the last 3-4 days i have had about 3 flats and my cassette came loose! What is this all about! Also my bike wont stop creaking when i really get on it! Well i guess its better to have problems now than saturday. Anyway i am off to go work...got to pay for the toys!

No Ride But No Worries

In the last week or so i have yet to get on the bike much other than a couple quick runs at Camp Alexander. Even though i haven't been putting in the miles i would like to i am still feeling good about the DK200 but getting some nerves about the whole "200" part.

I went back to Dodge City earlier in the week to see the family and take them the new dog(2 year old bulldog that snores farts and breathes heavier than me after a cross country race). While i was back in Dodge i actually planned on doing about 120 mile ride but enjoyed being around the family so much i decided to hang out with the parents and dogs and skip the ride. I might end up paying for it in about 7 days but really was nice to just relax and have no worries for awhile.

Quick DK200 note: I am dropping the Ritchey Speedmax tires for Bontrager DryX 1.75 because of all the troubles of trying to get the Ritcheys to set up tubeless and they seem to puncture easier than i really would like and i think the Bontragers are going to be a little more "comfortable" after 200 miles on my body.

Anyway I am off to eat some cookies and lay in bed! My idea of carb loading haha! Hope everyones training is going great and see you in a 7 days and if you get a chance check out mtbr.com and head to the endurance forum and post your bike you plan to ride for the DK200.

Happy trails...or gravel...or what ever your poison of choice is

DK 200 two Weeks Away!

So finally got out today and was able to get some distance in on my legs for the first time in awhile today. Got almost 50 miles in on what should be the first part of the DK200 and I have got to say it was beautiful out there! I stopped for about 10 minutes at what will be mile 25 or so and just took it in...because I know in 2 weeks thats going to be the last thing on my mind.

Matt Brown was good enough to let me barrow his Pace fork for the race and wow it is super light and paired with the SpeedMax tires the bike is light and felt good on the climbs. I did however have some trouble getting the tires to seal up little holes a couple times along the ride.

My back and legs hurt for awhile during the ride but I am pretty confident its from riding the single speed yesterday out on the trail and just not enough recovery, but either way I am feeling fresh and confident that I will be able to finish the DK200...then again it is 200 miles so hell, who knows!

Go ride and happy trails!

Wilson Lake

For the races Sunday Matt was able to pedal his way into 2nd place behind guess who? Cameron. Matt also backed off because of a strange creak coming from somewhere in his wheel. Me Lelan and Dusty would all be in the Sport Open Class and would start of with us 3 and two other guys pulling away from the pack. Lelan must have been hurting because his legs were dead and i could tell because i just planned to hold on as long as i could untill the other four guys dropped me but on one of the first climbs I actually ran into Lelans back wheel and decided maybe I had what it took to beat him today(Who knows when that day will come again...not soon enough haha jk Lelan). So i passed him soon after that.

So me, Dusty, and the 2 other guys pulled away(Luckily Lelan couldnt hang on from killing it the day before at the Short Track and Timed Climb). Dusty would stop to help out Bobby with a flat and would catch me soon after that because I was lost at a fork in the trail as the 2 other guys had got out of my sight by this time. So me and Dusty smashed it and caught the other two and my legs just felt like they couldn't go fast enough so about the half way point i passed dusty and then passed the other two guys a little bit later. I would just kill it the rest of the way leaving everyone behind(Not bad for my first sport race) and would finish 2nd with Dusty 4th and Lelan in about 8th or so(Not to shabby for dead legs!). Some guy pulled away from the start to take 1st overall in sport that I had no clue about but still very happy with the week end!

Thanks again to Doug and everyone else for putting on a great weekend of racing!


Also the Saturday before the race I was hurting for some trail and night riding so I snuck out to Camp Alexander and got 2 quick laps in on the single speed in the dark...Nothing better than a couple night laps to remind you how much fun it is just to relax and ride!

Pictures of the Wilson Lake soon to come.

Get out and go ride...and try to stay dry(good luck!)

Bad Idea But Still Fun

On Tuesday I met up with Lelan and Tim out at camp alexander for a couple quick laps to enjoy the nice weather. Being the smart guy that I am , I threw on the new cross tires I got for the DK200 on my rigid single speed...long story short, I got my ass kicked out there. But surprisingly I still had a good time and it helped me gain back some of that confidence I had lost in the last couple rides. Anyway I better get back to my school work(only 2 more weeks so time to actually study for once). Get out and go ride and see you all at Wilson Lake this weekend!

We ever going to race?

Well over the past week i had probably the two best training days of my life. On Monday and Tuesday of last week I was able to lay down some of the best times I have ever done to date, along with the legs feeling great. But the bad thing about this is we never race so it all seems pointless! I know one day ill get to race(hopefully this weekend at wilson lake!) but right now its just frustrating.

So since the race was canceled on Sunday Matt, Lelan, Dusty, and myself set out on a good ol fashioned gravel day. About 20 miles in I got a flat that seemed to take about a day and a half to change, ok maybe it didn't last that long but long enough for the other guys to get bored enough to start playing carnival games and seeing who could throw rocks further. Anyway long story short the ride took alot long than planned and I got my ass handed to me on both town sprints(Matt cheated! Sprints should not start 5 miles from the finish!). Also I am slowly losing confidence in the DK200 right now and racing all together with all this damn training and no racing, but went ahead and ordered in some Ritchey SpeedMax tires. Maybe this will boost my confidence for the DK200.

P.S. 4 1/2 weeks till the DK200 so go ride!

5K

Well this weekend despite having to work everyday I was able to sneak in a 5K run on saturday. The run was the 3rd annual John Blaufuss Memorial Run/Walk. All the proceeds went to scholarships for ESU. Anyway, I finished a decent 6th(23 minutes and some change) for only running twice this week and other than that I haven't ran since mid-February.

Other than that no news except Lelan finished a preview of the Dirty Kanza 200 that we did a couple weeks ago. Check it out The video does not do the hills or amazing scenery justice for what they will be like come May 31.

The picture is tiny but I am on the far left in the grey shirt w/a black beanie on.