I seen the President Yesterday

I got my workout in early yesterday morning and was listening to the local radio and they were talking about President Bush in Peoria and the places he was visiting.Since I live close to the airport I might as well go see if I can spot him going back to the airport,Well I got a great place to park the truck right by the National Guard base and sure enough here he came by about an hour later ! I missed the pic I was trying to take but The lady next to me said she would email her pics...I don't care what party your from when the most Powerfull man in the word comes to your town It's pretty cool !!!

Midz was here earlier and we workout for about an hour , he ran on the tredmill, I spinned I'll run tomorrow and do some yoga !

Tony and I are working on some new PAMBA jerseys ! They should look pretty cool ! Black with some red and gray.

This is last years pic of the dungeon

Spin,Spin,Spin

Yep ! all I can get in with this cold weather is a couple of hrs of spinning ! Friday I made it over to Jubilee for a run and Saturday I met the Ranger and some equestrions to help mark a reroute.They didn't go with what Staub and I had marked last years that was a nice trail and used up the area that we had to work with instead they wanted to go straight to point A and B...I thought they learned to make the trail more substainable for all trail users but They just want to ride the trail in and not do the work of getting that soft top soil (organic) off and get the trail down to the good hard soil.I'm not going to worry about it but I'll see what it looks like this summer.

Cold all week! Trail will be frozen ! Good for riding !

Running at Jubilee



My first born Mike Jr. turned 21 yrds

Hitting the spinner

plus getting some running in to keep from getting to bored downstaires in the dungeon,I wish the weather would just stay in the 20s and keep the ground frozen and maybe I could get out on the trails for some much needed outside biking.

I did a killer interval ride on the spinner this morning after work and finished up with some yoga and a good healthy meal.


A couple things I like about my Johnny G spinner
1-The feel of a real bike
2-sturdy ! It's not going anywhere !
3-adjustability is easy
4-pads are the only thing you can wear out

Standing


Sitting



The one and only sponsor I tried for this year was Maxxis Tires and I was notified yesterday that I did get the sposorship ! So good for me ! I like the big selection of tires I can get from these guys so I'm really glad they took me aboard.

I need to get the logo from the Midwest Moutainbike Festival so I can post it on here,this is a big event for PAMBA to put on and we need to get the word out to everyone.I hope some of the Iowa endurance freaks can make it over for the weekend.

I had to get some pics off the camera so here is a few from my last race of 2006
The Panther Creek Challenge 100

setting up and getting ready to go !



Nine hours plus later I was cooked !



Collecting some swag for my 2nd place finish



I couldn't have done it without my sweetheart Cindy ! She was there all year long !

Weather sucks

Yep It's winter here in Peoria, cold ,icy with some snow coming Sunday...I hit the spinner last weekend for two hours Saturday and three hours Sunday,the rest of the week I ran on trendmill and worked my core I was on the spinner Wendesday for an hour.

This morning I ran and walked on the t/m for two hrs watching a movie,Lord of the Rings 2 I think ! I keeps me on the t/m and not bored ANYTHING to keep me moving is a good thing.

I'll get on the spinner for some good base miles again the weekend maybe six hrs total and 'I'll keep bumping it up !

PAMBA stuff going on this weekend I hope to make it if I still can ! Saturdays have been sucking real bad for me I'm not getting much done but spinning and catching up on some much needed sleep ! Then I feel like crap the rest of the day or whats left of the night,I need to get on my bike outside I hope the weather breaks soon !

See Ya !

Time to kick up

The suffering and keep a steady training sked.I spent 3 hrs on the spinner Sunday and a hour with Midz Monday night to break in the Dungeon.I'll keep with my new program of yoga and body wieght workouts thru the week with some intervals and recover time on the spinner,then hit the longer base miles on the weekend.

Last Friday I went to a local gym that advertized using a heart rate monitor with your workouts and they have a new way of testing your V02 and anaerobic threshold.I always wanted to get checked by someone who new what they were doing and see how close I was with my own limits I had set.

I had to wear a mask and h/r monitor and get on a spinner for only 13 min and they had all the info they needed...my V02 max was 46.8 and my aerobic base (AB) was at 122 and anaerobic threshold (AT)was at 159...The AT is a little high than what I trained at Last year so thats good that my Threshold is going up and the rate that I build endurance is higher than last year to.I'll put my zone 2 and 3 about 8 to 10 beats higher and that will help me push alittle more = better endurance pace I can hold.

Getting faster at endurance pace has been up my ass for two years and I was a little faster last year with the help of coach (Karl Etzel )so I need to keep trying to train smart and not get burned out.It's always a kick in the junk when you get in your pace at a big race and the other guys seem to be flying by like they stole something...XC pace is to fast to keep up at a 12 or 24 hr but if you want on the podium you have to get fast !!!! 4th and 5th place at 24-9 is close and their is always 2007.

I need to get over to Iowa and get some miles in on the gravel because I don't know what these guys are riding over there.I have Jeffs NRS and I know he rode it on the first Tr-Iowa so thats what I was expecting to use this year.Some look to be on crossbikes fully ridgid and my body can't take that many hours on a hardtail.I'll hookup with Matt and get it figuired out soon.

It's 2:30 in the afternoon and I need to get to bed I was off at 9:00am this morning my normal 12 hr night with ony 3 hrs of sleep since I woke up Tuesday morning and couldn't fall back to sleep before work last night...I'll try and catch a couple extra hrs.

Best time of the year FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS !!!!! Saturday and Sunday !!!!!


See Ya !

Stop The Eating !

I can't wait for the holidays to get over with ! There is way to much food around the house or lets say bad food and my willpower is on overload.After this weekend I'll go on a ten week bodybuilders contest diet routine and get rid of the 15lbs Iv'e gained,I hope to be down to 165 lbs for T/3 and maintain 160 for the rest of the year...Yeah right !

Training is going good, my core is getting stronger each week and looking forward to some long rides.The big question is how long and how many rides a week should I be getting in this time of year and what should I be working up to before T/3 ?

On the home front New Years eve should be fun here at the house with the food and friends...Middz and Les might come out early and light up the woods with some fun with the guns ! Target shooting only ! I should be getting my Turkey permit soon in the mail also.

It's about that time ! The Dungeon !


Happy New Year and be safe !!


See Ya !

Trans-Iowa III

looks like a go for Matt and I ! and almost 120 riders will try and finish 320 plus miles of gravel fun.I guess this winter I'll be even more sireus on my training than last year and I thought I did pretty good before.

The temps were great here all week long and I could't get out for any rides until today.I headed out with the wind to my back and wanted to do some suffering on my way back to the house...with 20 + mile wind in my face all the way home I had the legs burning pretty good.

The first time I ever had to get off my bike from a dog wanting to take a chunck out of my leg happened right as I crossed route 8, the owner was a old man in the yard chopping wood and he couldn't call the dog off me so I kept walking in circles with the bike between me and the German Shepard.When the dog finally went back in his yard the old guy started to yell at me that it was my fault for tresspassing on the street in front of his house.He thinks he owns it to the center line because he pays taxes ! I yelled back are you FUCKING NUTS ! so you can guess the rest as I was fired up now and just let it all fly out at him...Then I thought he might have some retarded son inside the house with a gun so I got the hell out of there...MORON !!!

It was a good ride though and I needed it to clear my head,I still had not checked with the Trans V III board so I didn't know if I was in yet.Now it was all worth it and I get a plan on my training...I'll get ahold of you Matt and talk about some training methods and nutrition and get some kind of plan on getting thru this race.

I'm glad Paddy will be there and hope to meet some new blogers !


see ya

A few more days

And I'll know if I get in the Trans-Iowa race ! I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew,but you don't know if you don't try. Matt Brakeville is hoping to get in too and we plan on riding together and who ever else we can get to stick with us old timers.

Two weeks into my core work and my back feels better already I get out of bed with out grunting like old man...this workout also has me doing yoga and I don't stretch to good so it's hurting alot and I get pretty sore on some of the workouts like I had been lifting weights so I know it's doing me some good.

The weather has been great the last couple of days but to foggy for me to get on the bike,about the time the sun burns it off I need to go to bed ..I've been on the spinner but when its 50 outside I need to be out there.

Work is about the same bad hours and long hours last week 60 hrs in 5 days and my normal week is 53 hrs in 4 days Whats worse ?

Time for bed ! Kelsi has a X-mas choir at school tonight so I'll split my sleep up and get 4 hrs now and get a couple more tonight....Milkmen don't sleep anyway !

see ya !

Trans-Iowa race

Is up for registration and I'm going to start sending some post cards in this week,I hope I get in ! I hope Matt can still make it also but I know work has alot to do with that.

I did a nice road ride tonight,in the dark for the first time ! It was getting cold but I wasn't doing a long ride anyay.If I get in the T/I race I better get use to it,I will need to get a plan on training for such a long ride and hope my new core and off season training system I just bought will help me out.

I see alot of road riding in my future and R/I trail inmy future !

See ya !

Early ride in

I got in a easy 30 miles this morning on the road and I had to break out the cold weather gear.I layered pretty good but I still need to get a good system down for my feet they were a little cold.

Cindy and I hit the 22 year mark yesterday we went and seen a show at the Civic Center, Trans-Siberan Orchestra If you get a chance to see them do it ! They put on a great show.

I'll be stating a new off season program next week that will work my core and give me a good 12 week program to get my base miles up.

Another road ride I hope tomorrow !

See Ya !

Yeah I'm here !!!

OK Midz Here we go ! I think last post was before the Panther Creek the 100 mile race and I came in 2nd place,me and the winner was the only solos to finish.After that race I have been trying to get things done around the house before winter comes rolling in...split wood,take care of yard,cars.

Schedual change at work I'm back to Friday nights and 508 mile 13-1/2 hr shift...sucks ,but I'm glad Cindy bought me Serius radio it keeps me entertained with any kind of talk radio and some great Heavy Metal stations.

I'm almost done with cleaning up everybody's yard and making that extra money,It's nice,but a pain in the ass ! Oh Sh*t I need to get to bed ! yeah back to 3 hrs of sleep before a 13 hr night &$$%$%^&!!!!!!!

See YA !

One more time

I'm going to race the Panther Creek Challege this weekend,100 miles around the lake.That will be 6 laps starting at 8:00am and the last lap needs to be started by 4:30pm....I had such a bad race last weekend at the Festival that I wasn't going to do this race,but Tony called and said he had a team going down so I thought I would try one more suffer fest and call it a year !

Hey Matt where did you go last weekend ? I looked for you to say goodbye and you were gone !!! I felt like shit the whole race and should have DNF on my scound lap.

I'm cutting up alot of wood right now getting ready for the winter and hope to still find some time for the trail work before the season ends. Hey ! It's that time of year !!

See ya !

Season is coming to a end

Two more races and I'm going to call it a year ! The last PAMBA race is this next weekend and my last XC race.The Festival has gotten bigger and better every year,with a fun night ride kicking it off Friday night....I'll be camping out all weekend and helping with the Downhill and MTNcross Saturday and racing Sunday....We cleaned up the course today to get it ready and I got a small ride in !

I raced last Sunday at Bloomington,IL I didn't do to bad ! I felt good for the whole race and finished strong.I have a 100 mile race on October 7th down at Panther Creek and that will be my last race of the year.I do have a Century road ride I'm leading from my place on October 21st.....sounds like I will have a good showing of maybe 10 or more people.

Looking ahead to next year,I'm going to stick with the endurance racing and hope to travel out west for some races....It's that time of the year to get some trail work done and I want to get some more trails in at my place.

See ya !

Spinning out the legs

Today and checking out a road course for the century ride Midz and I are planning for in October.I had 50 miles in and was hoping to get 15 more that would take me home and a spoke broke on my rear wheel.The wheel was so out of true that I couldn't ride it and called Cindy to come and get me north of Brimfield ,Bummer ! I had a good ride going and the legs were wanting more!

Looks like Jeff and Carl kickass up in Minn.! also Paddy and Naomi did the same way up north !! nice job everybody ! I feel bad I didn't suffer like they all did !!

I have the rest of the XC races to finish up for the year and I might look up some cyclocross races up in the windy city to keep my year going.


see ya

Just Riding Around

Is about all I'm up to right now,I've been doing some more base work on the road bike and some running.I did a 5k last weekend with midz and might do a dualathlon the first weekend of September...

PAMBA had a race down in Danville today,but I stayed home and did a road ride with Bob,I'm not ready for a hard XC race yet....I might go down to Lake Shelbyville for CIMBAs first MTB race next weekend, it should be a easy race,not to long.

Next races I'm looking forward to...

September 2nd....Dualathlon..2 mile run..9 mile mtb..2 mile run...Hudson,Ill
September 10th....Mud,sweat and gears...PAMBA...Bloomington,Ill
September 22nd....Farmdale Festival....PAMBA.....East Peoria,Ill
October 7th.....Panther Creek Challenge...100 mile Chandlerville,Ill

See ya !

Time to get back

On the bike ! I took the whole week off because of the "rash on the ass" I'll get on the road bike in the morning and spin the legs out and get right back on sked. this weekend.

I'm trying to figure out what races I want to do, I have the PAMBA XC races for sure but I want to get some endurance races in. Maybe 12 or 24 hrs in Indiana or the 12/24 in Iowa. There is the 100 miles of Panther Creek 1-1/2 hrs south of here so I'm planning on it for now......I also qualified for the worlds solo champ. but not at$375.00.

It was nice to see the race bloggers at 24-9 and meet some new guys Sloane,Dallas,Naomi and Carl.

If any of you guys are traveling and need a place to stay in Central Illinois while passing thru ! Please get ahold of Cindy and I ! We don't have a fancy place but we sure are in the Country and would be glad to put ya up for the night. !


See Ya !

Wild 24 hrs of racing

What a crazy time at the 24-9 race this weekend ! Heat and thunderstorms were a factor for everybody and the race was called early.

Friday Cindy and I set up camp and soon Midz showed up around noon and we did a pre-ride of the course.With some new singletrack and much of the same trails as last year the corse was going to be fun but take a little longer.

Friday night a storm came thru around midnight and blew some tents over and stired everyone up then the rain came in and soaked the place for a couple good hours.

Morning of the race was cloudy and a little rain but it soon cleared up and we were off at 10:00.I Talked to Scott and Doug at the start and wished them good luck and to be sure and say hi if they saw me on the course.

1st-lap Was slow,too many riders in the singletrack and it bottled up in a couple places but I had long way to go.

2nd-lap Was much better and I was learning the course and riding with some people,if I could keep up this pace I knew I could do damage.

3rd-7th-lap I was alittle behind on where I wanted to be, I wanted to come in before 6:00pm on my 6th lap but the new singletrack was slowing me down and I was really hating that part of the course,It didn't flow at all and mentally taking me out of my game! the course after that was fun and I looked forward to it plus I knew I was only 25 min.away from the finish line.

8th-12th-lap Time to put the light on and I was looking forward to some fun riding and maybe making up some time on the other racers....But that wasn't in the cards for me this year,my first lap was fine with only my head lamp on low and handlebar on for maybe 15 min.I went out for my next lap and the head lamp went out right before the fun sinltrk so I had to slow my pace down.I had midz put on another battery and was off when it didn't last 15 min into the lap.( SHIT!) came in from that lap and changed it again.

13th - 14th lap When I came in to the pits from my 12 lap I had midz change both sets and I would be good and it would be daylight soon!I was 45 min into my 13th lap and both light went black and I was in the dark at 4:30am with 45 min till the end of this lap.I had just come out of the rocky switchbacks and hitting the open road by Twinkie trail and still had the crappy sinltrk. to go.....I road down the fire road staying in the middle as much as I could when I hit some loose gravel and almost went down...thats when I slowed down (normal speed 29-30mph)....I had to walk thru the crappy sinltrk.(cussing of course)..and was almost thru it when a rider with no light was following a rider with lights and a rider behind him with lights and they told me to get inbetween them ! Yea! you talk about being wide eyed, guessing and hoping you hit right line WoW !

I can't say enough about these guy's that helped me and the other guy get out of the woods It started to rain and it came down hard and made it more epic than I could think of. ( IF you believe in Karma I helped a guy on the course right before sundown with a broken seat post and I stoped so he could use my allen wrench )

When I came into my pit it was pouring down rain and I wanted this lap to count so I went to the start finish and they said it was suspended and holding all riders.

I was wet,tired and needed to get to my pit but I had to stay there until they start the race again.....I was there about 30 min when they turned on some flood lights and me another couple riders stood in front of it to warm up.They anounced the race would start back up in 10 min. when Cindy showed up with a blanket That's why I love here ! she's always thinking of me !!

At this point I was ready to stop and I couldn't gain anything with the 3rd place guy a hour ahead....But since I went thru the finish line I had to do another lap and wait outside the finsh till the end of the race....I went back to my pit and changed clothes had a cup of coffe and p/j sandwich.The rain started up again but I didn't care, this was my last lap and it felt good knowing it !

I had about 1/2 hr left when they told us the race was cancelled and to get back to our pits......the end !

I looked forward to this race all year and thought I would enjoy it more than I did.The weather didn't bother me, heat or rain but mentally I dreaded parts of the course and it really got in my head....Physically my hands took a beating and I wanted to just stop holding the handlebar...My right Trap felt like I was being stabed at times but I guess this is all part of the game.

I need to give a shout out to Karl Etzel! who helped me get my first 12 hr podium spot and get me prepared for this race and finsh a spot better than last year !

Thanks Middz your the best !

My biggest fan is always there for me Cindy ! Thanks for putting up with me all year ,thru all the training and talking about 24-9.

Hot training rides !

Sister-in-law lives 2 miles up the road and has a pool and I pass it on my way home from my rides........90+ degress I strip to the spandex and cool off for 15 min. then ride home !!! enough said !



see ya !

I need to ride !

Thursday... was day off on bike...
Friday...13hr workday rode spinner for 35min. and put heat on back of knee and massage.
Saturday...work around the house and trails at home..planned on getting ride in and it didn't happen !!!!

Sunday...I'm heading over to Jubilee to work on the trails and taking my bike to ride first thing this morning.

The next few week looks good for nothing but training for 24-9.

Yeah ! Yeah !

I don't have time for this crap ! I have training to do ! 9-mile is weeks away! I have a sore leg ! I'll be back !