Carbon Wheels

I made the move to carbon wheels for MTB this year after riding them on the road and for cross the past couple seasons.  I had aluminum rims last year and while they were light, stiffness and durability left something to be desired.  I went through 2 rear rims during the season and could flex my front wheel to the point of rubbing my tire on the fork in hard corners at low psi. 

It seems like carbon construction over the past decade or so has progressed to a point where it is now a superior building material. I decided to give them a shot and I doubt I will go back.  My bet is that in the next 5-10 years carbon wheels will be as common place as carbon frames.

Here is a pretty cool video from Rolf Prima showing the durability of the new CXC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSe8vJ82-7c

And Done

My steed is now complete.

Frame: Felt Edict Nine 1
Wheels: Rolf Prima Ralos Carbon, tubeless
Drivetrain: SRAM XX1, 36t ring
Brakes: Avid XO trail, 4 piston caliper
Weight as pictured and ready to race: 22.8#

Just turning some wrenches

Back on the program

After a fun pre season trip to North Carolina I am now officially back on the program with some changes for 2013.  The biggest news is that I will be joining Brian on the Gear Grinder/ RACC team.  I have to give big shout out to Jesse at Wheel and Sprocket, Brian, Rob Bolt, and Paul Weaver with Gear Grinder for making this happen and your support.  I will also be riding SRAM drivetrain components and Rolf Prima wheels this year, it should make for the ultimate bike setups.  Thanks guys, I hope I can make you proud this year!

New Treads and I"m looking fresh

North Carolina was an awesome trip and hopefully my skills improved a little as a result.  Heather, Megan, Isaac, and I packed a SUV with way more stuff than it was designed to hold and pointed that hunk of steel southeast.   

4 bikes, spare wheels, and camping gear for a week

The drive was about 13 hours to our campground in Pisgah National Forest.   Isaac and I did some exploring each day and ended up riding a good amount of the trail in Pisgah and Dupont.  

Up on the big rock in Dupont.  Some of Isaac's friends from IN joined us for a day

 I will say that a lot of the Pisgah trail was not built to the standards we are used to here in the Midwest.  Think large eroded ditches running straight up a mountain for looong stretches.  The hike a bike legs got a workout too but we were rewarded with some good descents highlighted by Black Mountain.   

This week I began the first base phase of my training.  I’ll be honest, it’s been a little rough getting going here but hopefully I will find my sea legs shortly.  There is a little less than 1 month until the first mountain bike race so hopefully things come around quickly.  I am working with Brian again this year as a coach.  I made some pretty big gains in fitness last year on his program so I’m hoping this year we can get even more fit and efficient.

Swap meet commuter

Just something I was picking away at lately. It should get heather to work like a champ.

Oaf season is about wrapping up

Too many nuts and beer

The off season has officially ended here for me and I’m trying to round up motivation to start training again.  February can seem like it drags on forever sometimes, I think it’s the hardest month of the year.  Daylight is noticeably longer now which has helped me get out on the bike a few times.  Last weekend I was up north and was even able to ride across a frozen lake on a ride.   

In the natural world there will be big changes coming quickly.  It’s hard to believe but over the next month we will gain 1:50 of daylight/day and 1:35 of it will be in the afternoon.  The snow will probably be all gone by then and the frost should be about out of the ground.  I think I was riding single track by March 20^th the past couple years although that’s probably a bit out of the norm.  

Off the bike I’ve been strapping on the running shoes.  It’s been 3-4 years since I’ve done any serious running now but I still seem to be able to clip along at 7min/mi pace even if it’s only 4 miles at a time instead of 20.  Back when I was training for marathon’s it seemed like 7:00 pace was kind of the default for an easy day or long run when not much concentration was put into pace.  Maybe that’s kind of what my body defaults to.   

Start of the 2005 Madison Shamrock Shuffle

The footing has been crappy a lot though this winter.  Very icy and slippery and my body doesn’t like these conditions.  A host of old injuries seem to pop up when trying to run in that stuff.  Luckily the City of Madison has really upped their game in maintaining the bike paths the last couple years.  They now are usually plowed by 7am following a snow storm and given some road salt.  I’m not a huge fan of using salt but if it helps people still be able to bike to work and run out side then I guess it’s not a significant amount and is worth it.  Today’s lesson is that road salt doesn’t do much when it’s below zero.

Coach Brian and I have done a little chatting and decided to delay the start of serious training until a bit later this year.  Hopefully this will allow me to hold on a little later in the season and not feel so smashed by Cyclocross season.  That means I’ll start doing some more bike specific stuff in March and then really crank it up come April.  That’s about a month later than last year. 

I’ve also been working hard on lining up a team and sponsors for this year and I should have a big announcement in a few weeks.

Season Recap- Mountain Bike

Chequamegon lead pack

I finally have a chance to rewind here and think about the year as a whole.  The WORS series and a couple other races were a big part of my goals for the year.  It’s rare that all of your pre season goals are achieved but that was really the case.  I think before the year I had written down Top 5 in both the WORS series and Chequamegon as goals and they both ended up happening.  I thought these both were really a stretch when I set them.  The previous year I finished 10^th in the WORS series… barely meeting the goal for that year.  In hindsight had the Cat 1 race not counted for equal points (ie 200 for the W) as the pro race it never would’ve happened.  Then in the last race of the year Chris P from the 212 crew apparently had a flat tire in the last race of the year to drop out of the 10^th spot.  That was close!  I didn’t really know how I would manage a top 5 at the time considering any top 5 placing in an individual race would’ve been thrilling.  Getting a 2^nd and a few 3rds was pretty awesome.  I was actually 1 more good race from getting 2^nd in the overall but a made a couple mistakes in a few key races and skipped the last two races in order to race cross. 

I think sometimes in the bike racing scene it’s easy to get caught up in “next weekend” and it’s hard to take in results and races.  Looking back I never really had the chance to enjoy the races I did well at.  As soon as I crossed the finish line all I could think about how I was going improve next week.  It makes me a little sad sometimes to think that I miss out on appreciating a goal being met but at the same time I think it’s a trait of successful people to always be looking forward.  It’s a tough balance to strike.

So taking a little look back I would say my top 3 moments from the past MTB season were:

1.  Chequamegon Fat Tire- 5^th Place.  My favorite race of the year, rolling with some very big boys.

2.  Mountain Bike Nationals – 15^th place.  Bitter sweet that I lost so much time the first couple descents but a good showing overall

3.  Cam Rock- 2^nd place.  Pretty pumped to do well on the home course and not too far off the win!

There were many other great times had and the best part might be traveling and racing with friends and family.

I was lucky to have the support of The Bike Hub and Specialized.  Rebecca and Dave really set up a top notch team.  My Stumpjumper 29er seemed to fit me like a glove, well done Specialized.  Unfortunately The Bike Hub won’t be supporting a team next year so you will see me out there in different colors next year.  Stay tuned.

Prize money list for the national championships