GMSR Stage 2

Nothing like epic racing then throwing the feet up, taking in calories, and enjoying some of the most fantastic scenery for two days with two to go for Lisa Johns and I at The Green Mountain Stage Race. Our time here has been peppered with comments like "check out the sweet Trek bikes" and "wow, really like those Trek kits" and "check out the yellow jersey riding the sweet Trek bike with the teammate wearing the cool kit." Oh, did I mention Lisa Johns has held the yellow jersey through Stage 2?! In her home state of Vermont no less....must be all the maple syrup coursing through her veins. TMT couldn't stop there so I thought I'd I tuck a few hot spot sprint points in my pocket and finish strong today. Stage 3 will be a big day ending on the notorious and grueling App Gap slated to have grades of up to 20%...Gulp!

Green Mt Stage Race Day 2

Today was the 50+ mile circuit race which had 700 feet of climbing per lap. The weather in the morning for Amanda's and Lisa's race was on the cool side and dry, but in the afternoon for Mike's and Eric's race it was muggy and raining (mostly a constant drizzle - enough to soak everything and make the bikes dirty).

Lisa and Amanda defended the leader's jersey and Amanda took a few sprint points in the sprint competition - another stellar day for the ladies!  Mike says "Girl Power!" And post race (see the picture) they are both looking pretty sharp and ready to hit the queen stage tomorrow!

The plan for the men's race was to see how things unfolded given the strong competition, and if it came down to a field sprint, to set up John Van Susteren (our LAPT "teammate" for the races!).  There were lots of attacks and mostly short-lived breaks, although last lap Mike was in a strong 4-man break that looked promising, and with John and I blocking it looked like it might go all the way, but one of the teammates of a guy in the break attacked and dragged what was left of the pack up to the break. In the end 2 guys managed to get away and stayed away by 8 seconds, and we set John up for the sprint where he took 4th overall (2nd in the field sprint). Now just hoping the legs recover for tomorrow's mountain top finish!  

Green Mt Stage Race Day 1

Racing is underway at the Green Mt Stage Race! The opening stage was a 5.7 mile Eddy Merckx style time trial with the first half uphill (climbing about 500 feet) and the second half flat to slightly downhill until about 1k to go when the course dove down and then right back up to the finish line.

All-in-all a good day for TMT - Lisa took 1st and will be sporting the leader's jersey tomorrow (awesome!), Amanda finished 13th, Eric finished 6th, and Mike finished 9th. I expect Amanda and Lisa to post some more details, and maybe even some podium shots!

Bikes and More Bikes

Our temporary bike storage facility in VT does not quite match the fancy pro teams, but we managed to fit all 4 bikes, 5 extra wheel sets, plus Amanda's bike bag (stuffed with more gear!) into the lawn mower shed!  

Green Mt Stage Race: Pre-race Prep

Mike reloading during our drive out to Burlington, VT, for the Green Mt Stage race. I think it was our teammates Amanda and Lisa who suggested that donuts are excellent nourishment prior to a 4-day stage race, and clearly we (Mike that is) paid close attention to their suggestion! :)

We arrived in Burlington late Wednesday afternoon and began scouting out the courses today. Should be a fun four days of racing, and we'll see how Mike's donut pre-load works out for him!

Dirt Bike Racing!

On top of the Open Singlespeed podium at the Rock.

After road season, there is always a bit of a lull in the racing calendar until 'cross starts up.  Every year I fill that lull with mountain biking and this year I've added some WORS races into the mix.  Before I started road racing, WORS racing was my main focus for the riding season.  While I typically hit a WORS race here or there most years, I've been doing them on a bit more consistent basis this year.  It been really fun getting back to racing dirt bikes...and the wins I've been picking up along the way are keeping me coming back for more!

It started in June with the Cam-Rock race.  There were a number of TMTers in the comp class race, including Seth, Micha, Dave S., and Michael H. (sorry if I missed anyone).  I had an great race on the belt-driven Trek Sawyer.  The CORP crew has done a great job with the trails in Cam-Rock and the course this year was the best yet. 

I got out front right away, likely due to the singlespeed forcing me to hit it hard on the opening climb.  After the first section of singletrack, it seem that some of the guys were gassed, so I went to the front to set the pace.  There was lots of slower traffic during the first lap, as we started behind the older comp wave , but things opened up during the second lap.  As we started the last lap, I had to let the two geared-bike racers that I was riding with go as the climbing was starting to wear on me.  Seth pulled up to me about halfway through the lap and I hung onto him as long as I could.  Micha was coming up as well, but managed to hold on to the finish before he could pull me in.  I won the singlespeed class and a lot of other TMTers had some great finishes.

I wasn't able to get to any of the July races, but I made it to the Kewaskum race just before Trek World.  This is a course I used to race on a regular basis, but there were some new takes on the open sections as well as some nice singletrack on top of the ski hill.  I battled for the first two laps with my good friend Jereme.  I was able to create a small gap at the end of the second lap and the open section had me checking the gap for the rest of the race.  I was able to hold Jereme off for the last two laps to take a hard-fought win.  Thinking back, Jereme and I probably had a couple of races just like this 11 or 12 years ago!

My third WORS race of the year was last weekend at the Rock in Franklin (formerly known as Crystal Ridge).  I wasn't able to get into a good position from the start and had some work to do to try and get back up front.  Late in the first lap I passed a couple of singlespeeders right before we started the start/finish climb.  As I started the second lap, I was able to catch the guy who is leading the series.  I came around him on a stretch of double track and kept the pace high in the singletrack to open a gap.  I didn't know if there was anyone else still up the trail, so I did my best to pull back as much time as I could.  Turns out, the second-lap pass was for the lead, so I ended up with my third WORS win in as many starts!

For those of you looking for a tune-up for 'cross season, get out and give a WORS race a try.  Lots of fun, great atmosphere, and some tough racing.  Next up is tomorrow's race in Suamico!

Great Day for a Ride

Amanda, Mike, and I are in the final couple weeks of preparing for the Green Mt Stage race in Vermont, and we had a good training day today - about 100 miles and 6500 feet of "leg breaking" climbing! And also joining the "fun" were Gordy, Diane O, Diane S, and Dave Z (not Zabriske!). Great day to be out riding the hills of western Dane County, and pretty darn scenic too (as the picture so amply captures!).

Eric

Gravel

Last Sunday while most of the team was at the state championship road race, I ventured off with a long-time riding buddy for a 90 mile ride west of Richland Center  The route included 20 miles of gravel and 8,000+ ft of climbing, including some incredibly steep pitches.  Typically, I don't drive anywhere to go for a road ride, especially anything longer than 30 minutes.  But I'm glad I made the drive out for this ride. 

Cross bikes were the equipment choice of the day.  I went for 25c Bontrager AW3 tires.  While I had no problem with them for most of the ride, the steep, gravel descents had me wishing for something a bit wider with some knobs.  Had to do some moto-style cornering a couple of times, but made it through without any incidents. 

The riding, as well as the scenery was incredible.  It was hard to believe that I was still in Wisconsin.  It was also the first 5+ hour ride that I've done this season.  I'm not sure what took me so long to get around to spending a long day in the saddle this year, but it was well worth the wait.