Landon Lueck

I Can Finally Talk!

2010-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

I WON!!!

Okay, you already knew that but I've know that since October 17th, 2009 and had to keep my mouth shut per Mtv's contracts. Now that the show is all said and done I can finally talk about it. It's always been hard to keep it from everyone and especially my closest friends. I only told a few family friends and Kate. Everyone did a great job of keeping the word on the DL for me. My roommate's girlfriend, Becca did and especially good job of breaking my balls weekly . . . well, whenever she could. After coming so close in The Duel 2 it was especially sweet for me.

I thought the final was great but as always they cannot represent the length of the event or how grueling it was.

My most memorable part of the final was after Carley and I finished. We waited for nearly twenty minutes for Kenny and Laurel to cross the line and while us four waited for Pete and Jill to finish our soggy socks stiffened and froze our feet. The mountain guides/emergency dudes assigned to the mountain-top post went into action for us. They dug a small hole in the snow - enough for four butts. Kenny, Laurel, Carley and myself planted ourselves in the hole then the guide threw a tent rain fly over us and tucked it under our butts.

With our eight knees touching in a circle we sat atop the mountain waiting for the 3rd place finishers.

Everyone asks me how Kenny really is in person. I always tell them he's much worse in person BUT, I really liked him and feel he is an honest, really funny guy. I'd just hate to be a female around him!

Here are a few pics from the show I was able to get from the crew...and one of my own!

The very first challenge - everyone is present

Awaiting our ride to the second checkpoint

I had to work hard for this - the helicopter blades were spinning and production was yelling for us to get going, but I would not leave without a pic to remember this time...it was for us eight.

Yeah, that's only half - the other half came at the beginning of the show's airing, the second half is kept over your head to keep you quiet!

Bring Your A-Game

2010-06-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

It's all about the details isn't it? After receiving my new Madone frame over a month ago I found a small piece, a critical piece, was missing from the frame. A piece that holds the rear brake cable in place....one to wait for. Last night I had had it with waiting around for Trek corporate to get their part numbers straight so I could finally ride my 2010 Madone 6-Series before 2010 came to an end. Cory at Moment Cycle Sport helped me out with a dremel tool making the last remaining piece fit.

Voila!

I couldn't be happier with this 14 lb black beauty. So reactive and such a comfortable ride compared to my steel framed Poprad.

Now that I'm back on a road bike, roommate Sean Braun (like the clothing company) could gear up a touch and finally ride with the "A" group - a group composed of weekend warriors both male and female. A group that is quite intimidating.

After spending two weeks with the "B" group it was a lovely change to bump up to the "A" group. Although a more strenuous pace it was much more professional and steady going. A great ride and I even finished 5th in the final sprint (which no one counts or cares about....unless you finish 5th of course).

I'm getting it back!

Earthquake!

2010-06-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

Being a Californian there are many things in which I enjoy over being in Wisconsin. The ocean provides a steady but changing horizon one can fixate his or her eye on for hours. There are mountains within a couple hours drive as well as lakes to wakeboard on if you choose to.

However, there are a few drawbacks to living on the left coast, one being earthquakes.

I experienced my first earthquake this evening while on the phone with Kate (who's back in Wisconsin). I knew exactly what was going on while it happened and have to say that a 5.9 earthquake is pretty friggin' cool! Not scary but certainly there was uncertainty about the chance of stronger ones to come.

My roommate Sean came stumbling out of his room into mine and we just looked at each other then I said perhaps we should vacate immediately to our center garden court in the apartment. As we made our way to our balcony, so did everyone else who was home at the time. We all we giggly and exchanged some common feelings and thoughts then everyone just turned and when back into their apartment.

No harm done and I still am loving this California thing!

Welcome to San Diego

2010-05-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

I met my new roommates in San Diego last night. One of the guys is a competitive cyclist here and and knows all the great routes here. Today we did an "easy" 40-miler along the Pacific Ocean.

I was on my Lemond Poprad single-speed and he was on his Parlee C4 murdered out with HED wheels and Sram Red. We had a great ride with enough sun to leave me with my first farmers tan of the year. Which then we immediately evened out with some time down at Mission Bay - this place is so awesome!
I'm not sure if I'm suppose to tell anyone this but, everyone should move here. It is soo beautiful! Check it out! Landon and Sean's Memorial Day Ride

Henry Who?

2010-05-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well, well. It's great to see all of you again!

Things are changing fast for me lately and no disrespect but blogging has had to take a back seat to everything else that has been formulating lately.

Things started to really be set into motion late December last year. I chose to end my sponsorship with Mafia Racing and sign with Trek of Madison in it's stead. The local bike shop is where I worked for nearly two years and after drinking the kool-aid I really believe in everything that Trek is trying to do (and doing) by always striving to be #1 in the world. That's admirable.

Only a week after my switch over to Trek, my 100% verbal agreement with the general manager at the store and my old boss got canned. He was "let go" on the spot and walked out with his bike helmet and my verbal agreement with him.

I was left wide open.

Without a sponsorship for the 2010 season my focus turned immediately to priorities - equipment, fuel costs and race fees. On December 27th I reluctantly met with an old agent of mine at the pub, Brocach in Milwaukee, WI the night before leaving for Florida to enjoy the Christmas season with Kate's family.

Fast forward to the new year; I was stepping foot onto the plane to fly home to Madison to start back up at work as my phone began to ring....it was my boss. "You don't need to worry about coming in right away tomorrow morning." I had to ask if something was up. "Well......." he trailed off, you're layed off. Fun-employment some say.

Back in Milwaukee a week earlier I was being offered a job in San Diego with a Fortune 300 company called Henry Schein Dental. Things seemed to be lining up without my knowing it or even trying to have any say in it at all!

Also back in 2009...
After spending time in Whistler, Canada filming Mtv's Fresh Meat 2 I had emailed my personal jeweler and told him to sharpen his tools...he needed to make me an amazing ring! Days after my arrival home I set up a luncheon with my girlfriend's father to ask him the toughest question I've ever had to ask....up to that point anyway.

2-hours later and four questions later he had a future son-in-law.

Fast forward again (are you with me yet??) to March - Kate and I are in Acapulco, Mexico to film Mtv's Spring Break Challenge where I was a coach for the Perdue team. My team lost after three competitions but are a bunch of great kids and even better spring breakers! Kate was expecting the proposal but it had to wait...the ring was not even done yet!
April 1st I received my hiring confirmation from Henry Schein. I used that to lure Kate in for a bottle of wine and an unexpected proposition to be my wife. A few hours into the night (around 1am) I finished her massage with slipping this (see below) onto her left hand.
A few tears later and a whole lot of not knowing what to do or say next and we were engaged!

Say hello to the future Mrs. Landon Lueck!
So...people, I'm moving to San Diego for a Field Sales Consultant position with Henry Schein Dental (the best dental supply company in the world....literally) with my wife-to-be! I leave this Sunday night now that I have completed the training aspect of it here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.I have been a Wisconsinite my entire life but it is time to experience something different. It is time to write the next chapter, or bunch of chapters, of my life. Mountain biking will have to take a back seat to my new career and for next year, Mafia Racing and I are already talking about getting me back out there again!

I'm also pretty excited how well this Fresh Meat thing is looking....better stay tuned to see when I got home!!! ;-)

Creeeeeeeeek!

2010-02-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, am I really opening the blog door which has been closed for so long now!?

It has been a wonderful off-season and when I mean off-season, I mean from blogging also (it's such a pain;-) I put my bike on a hook on the wall and looked into some time on the couch which evaded me from April til late October last year. I spent some time in British Columbia, near Whistler testing out all the olympic events so they were safe for the athletes from around the world. - kidding.

My bike has found it's way back into my Saris Super Magneto - props to my sponsor from last year whose support is as amazing as their product. If you all recall, I disastrously crashed my custom, hand-painted Trek Madone 6.9 Pro into my garage backing into my spot last July after a lovely century ride with my buddy Mike. As my carbon fiber steed sat unaware upon my Thule roof rack, the garage approached silently from behind and delivered a blow on the rear carbon wheel transferring all pressure to the fork stabilizer above my head. As the bike rack did all it could to slide forward giving precious centimeters my attention was on my girlfriend on the other end of the phone I was gabbing on.

Crack!

Done. Fork, frame...done.As you can see, I am not nearly over my uninsured f*#@-up. Even as one or two people commented, I still have not lived the day which I can laugh at it. All of this behind me now, the hunt for a new frame leads me back to Trek with my 20% off Crash Protection Warranty which Trek was so gracious to provide for other boners like me.

I have been on the super DL lately and will be for the next month or so. I can tell you that these are exciting times and while I will be riding for a different team this year it will be great. I feel a change in the wind and it's starting to show already in my life.
Stay tuned!
Luckily a picture's worth a thousand words - a little insight into my past few months behind closed doors! Read on!

I'm a lumberjack!

My design at the Madison Garden Expo central exhibit last weekend

How else does one see Avatar other than IMAX 3D! So awesome!!!

Teague and his uncle Landon at The Cabin

Bridezilla? No way! My sis is totally relaxed!

The 414 support group always willing to mobilize for one of their own

Kate and I made some fantastic dishes this winter...and it's still going!

Race Report - WORS #10

2009-09-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Lake Geneva's Treadfest

My race weekend was preceded by a beautiful stay at the Grand Geneva the night before race day. Kate and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Spa with pedicures (Kate) and a couples massage. If the woman who massaged me used more than only her knuckles and elbow it may possibly have been enjoyable . . . but no luck. She was old and foreign and sucked.

Later that evening we spent nearly 5 hours in front of their beautiful natural gas fire pit and had the best seats in the house while we shared 3.5 bottles of red wine - we had a great night!
Fast forward to Sunday at 1:30pm and the weather was actually pretty hot and crazy dry. With racers seeking shade prior to call-ups it was obvious it was going to be a testing day to say the least. As we chased down the first lap I find myself around 12 back and feeling okay but not pushing too hard as I knew the 2.5-hour race would seriously tax me on the latter laps. As I crazily rode through the rock garden - I know it was crazy because of the sounds the spectators were making...like, "oh, God" and "ewwww". It probably wasn't the slickest but when am I really??

As I finished down the ravine after the rock garden I heard my tire rub my frame. If you ride a lot, you'll know that is abnormal. I, too, thought this was strange but kept my eyes forward on the trail ahead. Ray Nelson was bridging the gap I had between us and I wanted to up the tempo - as I hit the open trail I dropped two gears, stood up and torqued on my 29er.

With no warning at all I was thrown to the ground at 20+ miles per hour. While I was skidding down the rock path on my left shoulder I somehow had time to look back at my bike skidding right behind me and consciously wondered, "WTF!??".

DNF

I did get 1 point so I qualified for the WORS standings which I'll hopefully be top 25....hopefully.

Race Report - WORS #8

2009-08-18T18:13:00.001-07:00

Serious Talent

The latest WORS race brought me back to my roots - River Falls, Wisconsin. It also brought talent out the hizzy as veteran and all around legend Jeff Hall of Salsa Cycles joined us "down here" in the weekly racing circuit. Others who were on the front line were TJ Woodruff, Jesse and Marko Lalonde, Mike Philips, Chris Peariso and many others.

It has become quite noticeable that my training has plateaued if not declined. Since learning my season will be getting cut short this season once again...my fire has calmed. My new job has taken it's full toll on me and my inability to balance my regular life, my Mtv life and my cycling life is quite visible in my race results.

I can count (and I only have 4.5 fingers) my long rides this entire year on one hand - that's embarrassing and so, so sad. After crushing my custom painted Madone into my damn garage, my road biking has halted . . . and that was my bread and butter last season. Baking staples which were the ingredients to my astounding finish at the Chequamegon last September.

The Chequamegon was my "A" priority race this season and where I held my thoughts when I wasn't going a hundred miles an hour.

. . .

Back to the Border Battle between Wisconsin and Minnesota (Farve is unbelievable btw)... I started off scary strong as I had to hold myself back as to not stomp up to front position after the first climb right out of the start blocks but immediately falling off the back going from 4th or 5th back to finishing 17th.

I did have a wonderfully clean race and my Felt was super responsive and I get more and more confident in it every time I saddle up.

My thoughts go out to Mr. Gene Overpillar who tragically collided with a large tree and was very badly hurt on the first lap Sunday. He was "The Man" when I was starting out in this sport at 14 or 15 years old - he and Eric Ringsrude would own every course and were scary fast!

Race Report - Ore to Shore

2009-08-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Sand.

This is what immediately come to my mind when thinking about the Ore to Shore race in Michigan. Unfortunately it is what definitely resonates with you long after your 50+ mile ride from Negaunee to Marquette.This years race brought a bunch of really fast guys including Jeff Hall, Jason Lummis, Marko Lalonde, TJ Woodruff, Mike Philips, Brian Matter among many others. This year's Ore to Shore also brought along the GT Golden Bike Series reigning champ along with a handful of scrappy cheerleaders and a bunch of press.Beyond all that crap, the weather was good; rained the morning of to dampen the vast amounts of Sahara in Northern Michigan and remained very humid throughout the 70-degree Saturday.

As the gun fired off at 9:45am I was two bike lengths back from the line and snuggled into around 20th as we rolled out fast down the asphalt two miles to the turnoff onto the trail. As we topped the first climb the top 20 were stretched out but bunched up again in a matter of time thanks to TJ Woodruff getting his first of two flats on the day and Chris Periso zipping to the front to slow the herd to assist his Adventure 212 buddy.

Soon enough though the group turned into about 40 men and it was time to jump. I apparently didn't jump high enough as I soon lost sight of the top ten. For the next fifteen miles I struggled feeling quite tired for this late in the season and blamed my light week of training.
As we approached Misery Hill (where everyone runs/walks their bike up a super loose, super steep hill) I could hear the familiar tones of one of my best competitors and buddies, Joe Curtes. We didn't begin working together for another five miles until we hit the asphalt again but once we did Joe, his teammate Sam, two randoms and I worked together for about the next 25 miles pulling each other along, working the way a pro peloton does.

This is where Joe gets a jab...

Apparently single speeders cannot "pull" on the road at all with guys with gears. It was painful to hear a "tough-guy" single speeder cry out he couldn't pull and nestled in behind us wimpy guys with gears as we rolled on.
As we came up on the Golden Boy (GT Golden Series current winner) I layed into my pedals and steamed past him around the 9-mile marker.

I never looked back.

I dropped everyone I was riding with and kept pushing into my pedals. I pushed until my quads were moments away from seizing up. As I passed a handful of top men in the final two miles I was pinned. . . too early.

Whether I actually went to early or just ran out of gas is up for debate. However, if I had not gone I may have dragged my group with me to the end. Somewhere there I should have eased up - smarted up. One turn and only 100 yards from the finish tape the Eppins ripped past me the way I feel ripping past leisurely riders on the bike path here in Madison. With their momentum all five guys sitting on my wheel pealed off and easily dropped me.

I was looking at a 12th place finish or even 11th but dropped back to finish 17th.

Hmph. I'll be a smarter racer tomorrow through this tough lesson.

Race Report - WORS #7

2009-08-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

No More Tube Drama

Okay! That's it! I've had it with these damn tubes! No more fatties on tubes!

Yesterdays race was a gorgeous 80-degree sunny and breezy day. The conditions for Crystal Ridge in Franklin, WI were ideal. I have seen Crystal Ridge be a pressure cooker in August right after a saturating rain Saturday night/Sunday morning. Sunday, however was dry and dusty and perfect
for a great hardpack tire. Fortunately I had on my Bontrager XR-1 Team Issue superfast tire for a rear match-up.

The sprint off the start was an artery-opening uphill climb. I assumed a dozen back as we rode into each other's dusty drafts. I was barely breathing as we stretched out and into position for the first looooooooong stretch of singletrack.

I pause here to emphasize the amount of singletrack in this friggin' race... Next year, Don Edberg unveiled, to only me, (not that others could not have guessed themselves) the Alterra Coffee Classic would be crowned the "Mountain Bike Technical Handling Skills National Championships of the World". And rightfully so.

As we careen into the first tight turns my rear tire found a hard spot as my fat ass came down upon my saddle. Within a few turns I'm riding on my rim making me turn off the trail as the two guys behind me politely and annoyingly said "Thank you".

My first flat (can you believe that!??). I fix my flat in roughly five minutes and of course the entire Elite field, men and women, have all passed me.

I dig in and climb back to 21st out of 56 and I round out my efforts at 2:21:03.9.

Oh well, Ore to Shore this weekend!!!

The Real Reasons

2009-07-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

Look quick! - don't blink! This will blur for sure!

The pro team got an apparel upgrade my friends! This is what you will see Sunday at WORS #7 baby! Abby and I will be sporting these pixelated prodigies called the Reasons jersey!

Why the Long Shadow?

2009-07-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about waking up before dawn is my commute to work in the morning is highlighted by the greeting of the sun breaking through the atmosphere and bending around and into my eyes. Sunrises are more often than not quite colorful and a spiritual event for me.

Since "garaging" my 2009 custom painted Trek Madone 6.9 Pro two weeks ago cracking both the fork and the frame, I've been back on my Lemond Poprad single-speed. It is nowhere near the ride quality my roadbike is/was but it does make for a peaceful spin.

The downside is being so sensitive to the elongation of the dark hours and the shortening of the daylight hours. Already, my first steps out of bed are not to the sound of a ridiculous amount of birds chirping but to crickets chirping. Lights will be required in just another month I approximate.

This summer has been crazy cool.

Race Report - WORS #6

2009-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Beautiful weather and a beautiful tire combination!

My best race of the season comes after a rough go in Colorado two weeks ago. Yesterday was the WORS' 6th race of twelve. It was held in Kewaskum at Su nburst Ski Area and was a fast 25 miles up and down the ski hill - pretty basic but basic treats me well!

As some of you may have know even before I, I am a power-oriented cyclist. Courses which require more of out of your legs and less singletrack (tight turns, usually in the woods) which requires more technical handling skill are better for me I guess.

I got the very last "call-up" to the line which was surprising to get one at all after ditching out two weeks ago for the WORS #5 to moonlight on the "pro" circuit for a minute or two (more factually, to get my ass handed to me and cry like a little boy for two hours and twenty minutes). As I stood on the line, Marko Lalonde, Tristan Schouten, Brian Matter, Thomas Bender among others stood confidently at the front of the line.

I had decided earlier in the week to throw WORS aside and go ahead with my training regiment of Saturday Centuries. When Mike and I finished our 96-mile ride my legs already felt pretty tired from the week of riding and I already had close to 300 miles in on the week. I though Sunday would be a reoccurring nightmare of Colorado....I was wrong.

My race started off strong as I fell in at around 30 back from the front going into the first set of switchbacks as we approached the first section of singletrack. The first section is tight and tedious and doesn't allow for passing so positioning here would be critical for the first big gap of the race at the top of the hill where it opens up and picks up speeds instantly. To be caught too far behind here could mean never seeing the lead group again.

I climbed past about ten elites before funneling into the singletrack. At the top I was surprisingly within sight of the lead group. As we delineated the square perimeter of the cornfield atop Sunburst I was feeling strong but nervous and unsure about my energy level. As we came around the bottoms and towards lap one, the lead group was only a minute ahead, maybe even less. I easily out legged a handful of guys on the few moderate climbs and found myself in the lead group a lap later.

The weather was 74 and sunny and the trail was dusty and hard packed. For the first time this season I switched my rear tire to an XR-1 by Bontrager. It's a super hard pack tire and is extremely light - the crappy part is you have to run a tube as I have not been able to get them to seal even with a few separate attempts. I kept my modified front Jones XC on the front to hold the matted, dry grass from sliding under my weight in the turns.

They both worked beautifully! Super fast, super smooth and the rear held through the dusty dirt even better than my home style rear I knifed for the beginning of the season.

I stayed with the lead group for about a half lap then Marko, Mike Phillips and Tristan jumped and I couldn't reach them again.

My greatest win in the race was holding off Ted Hanes for a lap and a half - an effort which would force me to be sick to my stomach for 24 hours after the race was over.

Sweet! - feels so good to finally have a substantial finish.

Mafia Racing Results

Abby Strigel
1st Overall - Cat 1

Landon Lueck
1:39:39.7 Hours -- 6th Cat 1

JW Miller
1:48:30.5 Hours -- 31st Cat 1

2,289.1 Miles in Three Days

2009-07-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Just some pics from Kate and my trip out and back for the Firecracker 5o. 2,289.1 miles (+25 completed in the actual race) in three days....whew!

Petro stop-check the rain pouring down!

My first riding buddy - Soks

Rainbows and butterflies when you ride with me!

One bike, miles and miles of highway to go!

Kate feeling the delierium setting in!

My final few pumps of the pedals as I round my first (and last) lap. Totally depleted.

Tony and another River Falls native post race activiting.

Anti-Altitude Campaign

2009-07-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is your water bottle. This is your water bottle on altitude. Any questions?

This is a wonderful illustration of exactly how my legs felt above 9,000 feet during the Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships this past weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado. Actually, these are what was left of my water bottles after traveling back to Madison with the atmospheric pressure change between the two places evident.

As you know, I was very nervous about racing in CO with absolutely no acclimatization prior to the contest at all. And for good reason. This was also my very first time mountain biking "out west" believe it or not.

The Firecracker 50 has over one vertical mile of climbing each lap. Twice as much as the Leadville 100 Mr. Lance Armstrong took second in a year back or so.

To say that riding out West is different from riding in the Mid-west is a sick understatement as I found out. Within five minutes of the controlled lead out through a people-packed-Main Street I found myself asking more from my legs than they would/could give. With little warm-up I thought perhaps it was the lack of a one why my legs felt sluggish.

Within 10 minutes into the 40-minute climb (and I mean straight climbing folks, no levels or breaks) the pro women began passing me and I knew I was in trouble.

My Felt Nine Team handled amazing and my tried and true tire combination worked great even 1100 miles away from Wisco's terra firma as I, for the first time, was passing people in the singletrack! The Fox shock I put back on was even more brilliant because of the sustained climbs allowing for a lockout to actually become an essential benefit.
But, half way through the first of two twenty-five mile loops I knew I did not have it in me. I pushed my body to it's limit which seemed blurred from the lack of oxygen in the air as I became dizzy in the first six miles and my legs felt as if they were both numb and totally packed with lactic acid - they couldn't recover.

I chose to quit, which is a new feeling as I have never quit a race before without a mechanical failure. After one lap I powered through the finish line and through the hooting crowds and when the fans dropped off I slunk off the singletrack and circled back to Kate and my friends who had come out to watch me compete.

It was difficult to travel all that way, pay all that money and try so terribly hard just to DNF after half of the race. At 2:20 hours my total time on the bike would have likely been far over five hours and I would have been risking serious injury with the level of intensity of the descents in Breckenridge.

My goal next time is to find time (and money) to fully acclimate for three to four weeks and train at altitude and then see what I can do versus the thick-blooded, skinny bitches of Colorado.

Next year.

It was hella experience and amazing MTBing and I can put that in my back pocket and use it to put things into perspective the next WORS race...right when a climb feels long and painful I shall think back to looking up the climbs in Breck and know that the little mole hill I am powering up is nothing!

My Newnew MTB

2009-06-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Rigid is so "009" - shocks are the totally new "010".

My last race was my last race on a rigid fork...well, until August 8th anyway.

I rode the Kettles Saturday morning solo and rediscovered why I love this sport. It was 2.5 hours of excellence! Prior to my ride I decided to see what my new RXL wheelset would look like with a pair of pretty legs by complementing my Felt Nine Team LTD with a white Fox 29er shock taken from last years Superfly. My rear wheel was so out of true from last week it was unrepairable. I hesitated only for a moment when thinking about how different the handling would be because of Gary Fisher's G2 offset fork.

The results are in; it is awesome! My bike felt better than ever and I have a new sense of confidence and excitement towards mountain biking in general. I think I got caught up in the weight wars and attempting to get my bike as light as possible made it impossible to enjoy a ride on....even with 29er wheels.

This weekend is the Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado so Kate and I will be packing up the A4 and heading westward ho. I'm super anxious to see how the Firecracker 50 feels at altitude!

Ore to Shore will be one of the three remaining races I will reinstall my rigid front fork for. That race along with the Chequamegon and then the Iceman Cometh in November.....until then, this is what you will see flashing past you!

Best Commute Ever!

2009-06-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took my usual 19 mile route home from work. I worked late, 'til 7:10pm then jumped on my "sotto voce" Madone for the ride home. Being that it was my fourth commuting day of the week and the last at that, my legs were pretty cashed.

I've been experimenting with all sorts of recovery drinks to help make my legs feel fresh each day and I am having a tough time finding something that actually works. However, chocolate milk is a drink that has been proven to have many of the characteristics of a fantastic recovery drink. Fat, protein, carbs - it's got it all. Aaand, the best part: I friggin' love chocolate milk! I asked Kate how much I would need and she calculated it out for me and for my 185 pound ass I need two pints after each ride, which is super easy to do.

Anyway, my commute home this evening started gently with my legs feeling a bit sore but by mile 5 I was in full swing and chugging up inclines out of the saddle very fluidly and feeling strong! By mile 14 I knew I was into one of my better commute/two-a-day workouts I've had this season.

With the last 1.25 miles as a cool-down, I pinned it through the final two miles and labored with my teeth gritting and my cadence nearing 110 rpms spilling my hard earned effort all over my thighs. With evidence left on my bibs I tried to recover with a mouth wide open and hands up over my head. I'm positive the cars had no idea what I was doing!

Just over one week before nationals and next week is a taper week for sure.

4-hour mtb ride Saturday at the Kettles; commute Monday and Wednesday and drive the rest of the week with perhaps a easy ride each night. Let's hope this works!

Pitchin' a Tent

2009-06-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Grif lied to me. He exclaimed he did indeed have an altitude tent. Futhermore, he gracefully sited I may sleep in that very tent for the three weeks before my Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship in Breckenridge, Colorado on Independence Day.

However, like I said, he is a liar. He has no altitude tent.

I am back to square one against the high altitude billy goat folk from the mountains. However, I have a little tactic which might either make me faint and if nothing else it will keep me from swallowing the horribly annoying and biting tiny black flys/bugs which land on my grill on the way home in the evening(see pic).

The idea roots from a 9th grade health class exercise, who was taught by Mr. Dietrich, coincidentally the man who got me into mountain biking in the very first place. We did this exercise to provide and illustration of what it would be like to be a long-time smoker. We did about thirty jumping-jacks then closed our mouths and stuck one finger over the hole of one nostril.

We could barely breath!

This works well to teach you to not smoke at 15 years old and also works well to mimic the conditions of climing 2000 ft out of a bowl in the Rockies during a national championship race. So I spent the last 3/4 of my ride home tonight with my mouth shut and breathing only through my nose even on the climbs.

I think it might work! I don't know if it will make my blood produce anymore red blood cells to help me in the thin air of the mountains but it definitely gives you the feeling of not being able to get enough air to your lungs!

I've also thought about taking up smoking three packs a day real quick.

You Had An Accident? What Does That Mean?...GU!

2009-06-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Mafia Racing Midwest got their GU! Always nice to come home to some sweet corrugated boxes on your doorstep. Christmas wrapping paper is so overrated!

We got friggin' everything; Chomps, GU Energy Gel & GU2O electrolyte replacement drink! We're set - THANKS GU!!!

A Perfect Egg Substitue

2009-06-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

My new sponsor Crank Bros makes some really elite gear. The tippy-top of even their scale is the 4ti. Affectionately known as Quad-Ti, or my widdle wovy egg beaders. Whatever you call them they are the best pedal you can own for your mtb. This is my second pair and at $400 thats a lot of WORS bucks (I win like $5 to $10 Wisconsin Off Road Series “bucks” each race which you may only use for registration of future races or WORS socks, etc.). It is, by the gram, the most expensive piece of equipment but if you look around at the race line....and up at the front race line you’ll notice an infection of Crank Bros across the board.

Pros agree everywhere - something just clicks with this pedal and mountain biking! (sorry)

The Crank Bros 4Ti Egg Beaters pedal gets my Super Stamp of Approval!

Thanks Crank Bros!!!

I Am the Pop Can

2009-06-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have this theory about the volume in which I perspire:

I am cooler than the air surrounding me and therefore the air condenses on me and forms water droplets, ie sweat.

This was never better displayed to me than yesterday on my morning commute. At 5:30am many mornings I swim through thick fog as I climb out of Lake Mendota's basin towards the West. Yesterday was a scorcher at 94 degrees and a heat index of over 100.

As I opened my legs up in the first three miles my arms grew water off of their hairs. Pretty cool until I began "sweating" all over myself 30 minutes later.

Race Report - WORS #4

2009-06-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

85 degrees sounds like a lovely summer day but does no justice for a Wisconsin day in June. With the humidity in the nineties it took no time or effort to be dripping with sweat whether you were an actual racer or an actual fan.

Nordic Mountain claimed my body once again for over two hours. Historically this race has not been of my better finishes and this one was no different. Two years ago I was finishing out my "Comp" season and riding #1 in the series with a cushy lead. I had just won two or three races in a row and had a random girl coming to watch me (not so random anymore - it was Kate). The race was grudgingly muddy as we were the first the hit the trails after the rains blew in that day. My tire choice was horrible, I recall, and I was all over the trail.

See, with a butt as big as mine it is crucial to pick the right tire so it can hold you in the turns whether its wet and sloppy or dry and hardpacked. If you're Jesse Lalonde, Tristan Shoutten or Marko Lalond....or TJ Woodruff.......or Thomas Bender.....ok, everyone is skinnier than me but you get the point - it's important to have the right tire combo.

That day I came in second and didn't impress my future lady nearly as much as I had wanted.

One year ago, Kate and I had gotten home just a couple days before the race from 19 days in Europe spending a dedicated amount of our Euros on gellato and vino. I've never cramped so badly in my whole life. I couldn't stand, I couldn't sit. All I could do was hold onto a tree and scream on the inside. I finished 48th.

However, this year was different because I had the perfect set of treads on. I switched my rear right before the race after a pre-ride lap with Team Mafia. I went with the full blown, uncut Bontrager Jones ACX for the rear and my normal front tire pick - my modified Bontrager Jones ACX.

Great tires; bad endurance.

My first lap was very good as I was running near the top ten. As the second lap expired I felt as though I was close to expiring. The heat was at it's worst and the zipper on my borrowed "champagne" Mafia kit couldn't go low enough. Water bottles were emptied prior to having visual confirmation on my next pick-up with Bryce and cool water was a shock to the system as it was poured by the Mafia president David Janowiec over my back.

As the race went on a few top racers were dropping from the front lines hard and the typical mid to late race grind continued.

As the last lap approached Dallas Fowler (eighth to my seventh last year) had my wheel and I was not about to allow another person to ride my wheel the entire last lap and then outsprint me in the final 100 meters. I allowed him to pass and I jumped on his wheel.

I sat there content but so on top of his wheel many times I had to swerve so as not to rub his tire. I could tell I had some gas left in the tank. As we hit lap-traffic (lapping slower riders in the latter portion of the race is typical and something that can be used as a weapon if done properly) Dallas was polite enough to call out "two-elite back" so I didn't have to call it out. When passing one slower gentleman, he got off balance and couldn't unclip and crashed to the left and directly into my derailieur and rear wheel sending me to the ground along with him. As he attempted to unclip and get off of my bike I was affectively pinned to the ground. I finally jumped to my feet in the middle of a muddy and stoney portion and ran my bike a ways and tried to get back on but felt the footsteps of another elite so I had to give up my position and step aside. As he rode past
did, he noted that "That sucks." and went on to beat Dallas to take 14th place.

Grr.....

With the finish line in site I could see Chris Peariso (WORS #3) coming on super strong. I made my mad dash to stuff him in behind me for the final singletrack portion before busting loose and making for the finish line. As we came blasting out of the downhill singletrack I nailed my inside line of the final left corner so Chris would have to take the slightly slower, longer outside route if he was going to try and pass me...only problem was.....finish line was before the left turn. I was suppose to go straight and finish not follow the course I had done four times prior to lap and return to the course!!!

Double Grrrrr......

Mafia Racing Results:

Abby Strigel -- 3rd Cat 1 1:58:58.6 hours

Landon Lueck -- 16th Cat 1 2:10:21.5 hours

Peter Odennell -- 21st Cat 1 2:14:20.6 hours

Dylan Stucki -- 22nd Cat 1 2:15:47.2 hours

Bryce Schmidt -- 7th Sport 1:19:16.1 hours

John Miller -- Cat 1 DNF

Trevor Downing -- Cat 1 DNF

Panera Givin’ Bread Away

2009-06-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love Panera. Especially lately. I must say my last visit (okay - crap, I went again today but it was three days ago) was my best one yet! I dropped Kate off at the airport to see her in NYC in two days. I was heading home and set my new Garmin GPS navigation unit to find the nearest Panera Bread. And oh did it. It found me the corporate headquarters attached to one of the largest Paneras in the state.

Just as I walked in, Darrin, the general manager, spotted me. Sporting my new Mafia tee with pride I figured he was mildly attracted to the sweetness which is my tee - but no. He was familiar with my mug and shortly after I spouted off to the cashier what I was craving that morning he cut in and said this one was on him - swiped his card and it was all said and done!

I’m sure it has happened to me prior to this but not in a while! Thanks Darrin!

Once I had a woman write me a check for $100 for my baseball hat I was wearing. I was at Outback Steakhouse for dinner with some long, lost friends and they kindly interrupted and asked for my hat - I turned her down only to have her return from her mini-van with checkbook in-hand. She wouldn’t take no for an answer so I signed my Badger hockey hat and traded her for the check.

I loved that hat - never did just go back and buy one like I said I would...

Anyway, Panera rocks. They’re chocolate chipper cookies cannot be beat.

Da-deeb, Da-deeb - That’s All Folks!

2009-06-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, there are certainly better ways to end a show - I know. The last two challenges I have been on I have been there until the end...and won.

Besides the fact I didn’t win The Duel 2 this challenge was upsettingly different that the others. Long gone is the idea of having any fun while on these shows. I guess the “new and improved” idea to get more drama from the cast is to isolate them to the extent that people begin to get cabin-fever and crack. I saw it happen us all a little bit at a time.

At one point during the challenge, Brad hosted a yelling contest in our room...we stood in a circle and yelled into the center of about six guys and decided who yelled the loudest. Does that sound crazy to you?? It does to me. I would phone home (allowed 15 minutes twice per week) and tell my mother I didn’t want her to watch her son and his roommates because we looked clinically insane at times.

Looking back now, I have a hard time finding the challenge that worthwhile. The $7500 I get to show up now is just barely worth the time and effort and damage it does to your personal and professional life. The aspect which makes it always worth the trip...is the trip. New Zealand was spectacular! After, of course. We were sequestered for six weeks while we taped never allowed out of the house but to exercise for 30 minutes on ones own.

Kate came in the morning after the wrap party. Since I got sent home the night prior to the final challenge the executive allowed me to stay for the party. Since Kate had booked her flight two weeks prior it was a good thing I was still there! It was a leap of faith we had to make. At almost $2500 a ticket it was an expensive one but it paid off plenty!

If you want to see the pics I took during our time in Southern New Zealand look back to the first of my postings on this blog site back in January. Amazing.

My rehab is basically complete. I have almost the exact range of motion in my damaged and repaired shoulder as I do in my right shoulder and my strength and muscle mass is back to better than one year ago!

Good thing Bunim/Murray (our production company) covers our injuries (Yeah right!).

Thanks for watching and supporting me! Next week is the reunion we filmed this past Tuesday for four hours. Should be great! Wait to hear Rachel, Aneesa and Jenn talk about their three-way relationship! Whoa! Or watch as Dunbar gets decked by both Paula and Kim!

Race Report - WORS #3

2009-06-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Not in a nutshell:

47 degrees and raining; Saturday was so dismal it warded almost the entire Mafia Midwest team from pre-riding the course at Nine Mile Forest in Wausau, Wisconsin. A very determined and brave Nick Caliva drove from my native hometown of River Falls, WI to Wausau to ride and report on the trail conditions.

I, myself, was determined to be the very best puppy uncle I could be for my new nephew, Teague - an eleven week old yellow labrador; my sister’s first. Her boyfriend, Lance and she wanted to go to a party down the block so I came in to take their four-legged responsibilities for a few hours.

Even though Teague apparently peed in three different locations on their carpet(one of which I did catch), three separate times I consider my job very well done.

As my dictatorship over the dogs came to an end my whole-wheat spaghetti came to a boil. The usual pasta pre-race meal ensued even with the mixed feedback on whether or not “carb loading” actually has benefits. Bed time was 9:20pm on a Saturday night...just thinking back to what I would have been doing two years ago on a Saturday night makes me queazy.
--------------------------

Teague is up at 5am which means we are too. Fortunately, my sister is ahead of the curve and has already bought a puppy bark collar so we all fall back to sleep for another few hours.
--------------------------

10 hours of sleep has not happened in weeks and it feels GREAT! - I’m ready to roll!

I use my new Garmin to navigate me directly to the entrance of Nine Mile Forest with only very, very fine sprinkles on my windshield. I pull in to Bryce and Abby’s “campsite” - aka a gravel parking lot space with two tents in it. I unload, register and Bryce and I set up the Mafia tent near the finish line for hand-ups and of course promotion - AHEM! - **PBR.

I warm up with Marko Lalonde, then Brian Matter who I congratulate on the previous race in which he won. He tells me he feels kind of bad for out-sprinting Jesse Lalonde at the finish after riding his wheel the entire final lap. I told him the tale of my experience that race with Macjie at that same race and we decided because it was his first, I repeat, first race of the year he didn’t know the strength of his legs. And when they didn’t crack he let loose of them. It’s pretty amazing that he can come in and just pretty much decide to win a race when he feels like it. Brian is a seasoned professional who has raced many times at the NORBA level. He is the real deal (and I’ve beaten him a handful of times let me add!) The talent is getting deeper and deeper with the WORS and couple new names are continuously appearing in the top results each event.
---------------------------

Don’s spanish “goal” turned ‘GOOOoooooooooooo!’ lets us put both cleats in our pedals. We race down the wide grass field/road to the funneling gravel two-track. As I shoot into the funnel I rub elbows and handlebars with a racer to my left and he collides with the guy next to him. I saw and heard the entire pile up of last weeks turn #1 - but luckily for everyone it was not the case this turn #1.

I bite my tongue as to not lecture - “The race will not be won in the first 500 feet - only lost!” and hold my course. This is the only time it helps to be a fatty.

Shortly after the first few downhill two-track turns the course heads uphill and thins the playing field front to back. As we string out I am in the large lead group of nearly 25 I estimate. We chug along with downward turning tires rubbing on upward turning tires as everyone anxiously await hints of the first attack.

But there is no need for an attack. In my case single-track will do just as well as a flat tire. I feel bad for anyone stuck behind me in this greasy, chewed up single-track as I ricochet between rocks jutting from the ground and exposed live tree roots slick anyhow from the abrasions caused from hundreds of knobbies thus far today. Pour on a clayey mixture of super-saturated soil and you’ve got some quite technical terrain.

As I un-clip to keep upright I strain to keep my momentum but in an effort to do so I inadvertently go straight over the handlebars. Landing on my back with my bike above me in the air and three guys waiting to ride over my chest I orient myself and let them pass and try and fall in behind them. MacIej was the first guy past...and I never saw him again. He ended up 11th.

Four laps, each 8-point-something miles long, meant we again went way over our typical 25-mile race and into the thirties again. If you’re still reading this I owe you a PBR at the next race. The first two groups pull away through the single track but I was feeling pretty strong and a layer overdressed. I had a long-sleeve jersey under my Twin Six Metal kit and during the long, soggy grassy climbs I could feel my heart unzipping both layers and trying to come out for a breather.

Laps 3 and 4 I claw my way up the ladder and catch 3 or 4 guys and eventually able to grind them down enough to drop them. Laboring, I cannot bridge the gap to Joe Curtes and finish with a hard, solo(which I love doing I guess) effort to finish in 2:25:47.2 hours.

I am somewhat content with my 15th placement and with bettering my placement each race thus far and more about how good I felt. If I keep this up, in another nine races I will be in the top five! . . . we’ll see. I guess I’ll keep training.

Mafia Racing Results

Abby Strigel - 4th Cat 1 2:08:41.2 hours
*post race stomach cramping like crazy = dehydration

JW Miller - 21st Cat 1 2:29:47.9 hours
*felt great - took me on a “cool down” aka lap #5

Nick Caliva - 9th Cat 2

Bryce Schmidt - DNTR (Decided Not To Race)
*great hand-ups and the only one to drink PBR that cold-ass day!

Wisconsin Sports Network

2009-06-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a little article about Mtv's The Duel 2 this Wednesday (tomorrow night's finale) and a tid-bit about moi:

http://www.wissports.net/blog/message.aspx?f=90&id=1035173

Damn Bikers

2009-06-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

Oh great...here come some more of those careless cyclists. Oh wait - I know this bunch! It's Bryce and Abby! On the way to the race on a dismal Saturday afternoon. Looks like the pre-ride will have to be done on the road tomorrow. :-(

Race report on it's way.

Off To The Races

2009-06-06T10:00:00.001-07:00

WORS numero tres is tomorrow in Wausau, WI at Nine Mile Forest. Bryce, Abby and I are heading up today to maybe pre-ride depending on conditions (I know....I'm a baby. But I don't want to get my pretty race bike all yucky ;-)

Seeing as our Mafia Racing kits have not yet landed from China on the west coast (or they have and they're en route to our residences) we will be sporting the somewhat rag-tag, quazi-team attire we are grudgingly used to this early season. I will be sporting the goods from Twin Six during the race, but I am (right now actually) and will be sporting the tee I'll be flaunting for the next four days ....

Sweet meat! This shirt can be seen on the upcoming Mtv special reunion - The Duel 2. TBA for air date but after this week's final episode I would imagine it will air the following week or that of the next. I'll keep y'all updated.

Go Mafia Racing!!!

Seven Degrees of George Clooney

2009-06-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

I can't help but to blog about this....

My ex-girlfriend is now dating George Clooney.

A gossip magazine contacted me out of LA and asked if they could ask some questions about my ex-girlfriend for a story they were doing. I thought she perhaps had made a big break in show biz and is in an upcoming movie. But nowhere in my mind was I ready for what they were going to ask me.

They reluctantly tell me that I must know that they are rumoured to be dating - I was speechless. I tell them she is a great girl and can understand why Mr. Clooney could be swept up in her essence.

Talk about weird.

Facts:

They were photographed in a car after clubbin' it one night in LA.
She is 23 and he is 48.

Sometimes you see two people together and you can totally see the chemistry which binds them together and you get the inkling it is beyond even what can be witnessed - something that roots much deeper. Other times you see a couple and think wtf. This is employed constantly in the south. Good 'ol southern boys land amazingly gorgeous women with no explanation possible. Then...sometimes you know exactly for what reason each person is in that particular relationship.

This is a multiple-choice rhetorical question.

Good luck you two!

The End Is Near

2009-06-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the second to last episode of Mtv's The Duel 2. It was "to be continued..." which was pretty lame and they should have just finished it out with the two duels but whatever. Either way - next week if you tune in and watch really closely you'll witness me rip my shoulder out of socket! Ooooo fun! If you look back to one of my very first blog entries in January you can see a pic of me right after surgery - still on the stretcher.

This pic was many weeks after my surgery. You can see the atrophy that has set in in my upper body.

2009-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to sport my new threads for the taping of Mtv's Duel II Reunion next Tuesday in NYC!

True Religion rocks!!!

Race Report #2

2009-06-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I had to wait until Tuesday evening to begin blogging because I had a case of instantaneous carpal tunnel because of Sundays race course in Rhinelander. To say the least I should have been more responsible and gotten a new race (a headset piece which fits onto the top of the fork crown as a casing for the lower bearing - without one of those you cannot attach your fork) on my sweet Fox suspension fork so I could swap it out with my rigid Bontrager Switchblade fork.

My upper body was feeling the torture of one of WORS' newest courses with all of it's kidney bruising (literally as I found out) bumps and boulders.

The first gravel corner lay nearabouts 100 yards from the starting line and when a speedy army of a bunch of skinny bitches hit a gravely corner at 25 mph you bet your ass (or your pointy hips rather) that there will be a few hittin' the floor. Done deal - didn't think it would happen so close to me though - two guys, Ron Stawicki caved first into teammate Chris Peariso and they ended up taking out a good swath of elite men to give distance to those able to avoid the wreckage.

After that the race settled down to a quite inner body torture for me as the words from Chris Peariso on the starting line echoed annoyingly through my head: "Now, this course has turns in it you know!". Hmph! - okay, so I'm a big guy and slower through the single track than your 130 lbs ass, I'm working on it. I was quite pleased with my technical skills as I was able to stay mounted for the entire race (once again).

I did feel much better this race as many fellow racers made it verbally clear they would be fine with only two laps, feeling that three 10-point-something mile laps were more than adequate to find just who could find the cleanest line and who had the full-body conditioning thus far this season.

I rode the entire third lap with MacIej Nowak (pronounced "Mach-ay") after he fell off of a group of about three riders. He rode my wheel tight through every turn and as we chatted I even cheered him on to keep on my wheel. As we all know we ride so much harder when someone is on our ass. As we approached the final couple miles MacIej asked if, "...it would be a dick move to race me for the finish". I replied he would have to deal not only with the blogs for two weeks but also as racer morals go, he may not be able to sleep but to do whatever he needed to do.

I tried to push him hard enough so he wouldn't have the gusto to out sprint me but in the end he did and beat me by .5 seconds. Again....I must remind myself this is the second WORS race of the season and to again focus myself on bigger races on the horizon and closer:

MTB Marathon National Championships - Breckenridge, CO July 5th
MTB National Championships - Grandby, CO July, 16th
Ore to Shore MTB Epic - Marquette, MI August 8th
Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival - Cable, WI September 19th
Iceman Cometh MTB Challenge - Traverse City, MI First Saturday in November

But for today, the best man proved to be Brian Matter, who just so happens to be the nicest damn guy you'll ever lose to . . . besides me of course ;-) who also did a bit of wheel riding on the wings of Gary Fisher 29er crew hero Jesse Lalonde. After chatting to Jesse post race he told me Brian had "big-ringed him". Rubbins' racin' right??? I just told Jesse maybe it's time to invest a little bit into winning and get some damn gears. I know that he and his brother Marko have inspired a complete and utterly strange subculture of single-speeders but even Marko had the forethought to enlist some technology on his modified 69er GT Zaskar for Rhinelander.

I thought Brian was done really competing in WORS contests. I thought he was focused solely on the Triple Crown Series (Ore to Shore, Chequamegon, Iceman Cometh) as well as late season hell, otherwise known as cyclo-cross.

WORS #2

2009-05-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Rhinelander, WI will host the Wisconsin Off Road Series' second race of the year this Sunday. It is the most northern race of the year for the WORS and I am curious who will make the trek to race in the cat 1 race.

I feel ready for the race commuting three days last week with a 90-mile ride Saturday and then commuting another three this week but we'll see. I hope to break in my race legs a little at a time and still keep my eye to the horizon on the Chequamegon this September.

Oh well - the bikes are ready to go - Go Mafia Racing!!!

No Pictures . . .

2009-05-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

I went to bed last night with the sound of rain drops at my window. I awoke to the same sound - that meant a soggy 15-mile commute. Buuut, the wind was out of the northeast so it was at my back and I made great time! Of all the rainy days this morning was a wonderful morning to ride in the rain - it was pretty warm and the rain wasn't stinging my eyes at all without my fogged up Oaks on.

My camera is hydrophobic.

As I neared the 5-mile point in my commute I pass a farmhouse. This morning a big 'ol rooster was cock-a-doodlin' away as I rolled by at 5:45am.

I just though . . . 'You're up late'.

As I hogged the lane as to disallow a car on my flank to try to beat me to the roundabout I straightened out the curves as best I could when - "shhrreee" - my back tire(which I noticed for the first time ever last night, could be pumped up to 130psi/9 bars) lost tack with the slickened road and slid to the right.

It's a good thing I have cat-like reflexes and have mtb-ing on my resume because I didn't go down. Now I know why the pros lower their pressure to like 80 psi in rainy conditions (and they're all skinny bitches).

What Matters is Underneath

2009-05-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

Office on the outside, T6 cyclist underneath . . . all business.

The Inside of the Beast

2009-05-24T21:17:00.001-07:00

Schmem tv you say. Well here is a look at the inner images of one of the most private and public places on earth... get a taste of my life (read above).
Ah the benefits of being me...

Today I get to tour the Mtv studios in Time Square in NYC. It was so cool to be able to be in a place which holds such cultural iconography. I interview with Mtv about the “Shit They Should Have Shown” for nearly two hours just down the Hall from where TRL was housed for years looking down on the craziness which will become (this weekend I believe) a pedestrian mall. Thank God!!! Time Square is the craziest place I’ve ever been with so much to see you literally have to stop, stand, and turn around looking up and down, up and down.

What was the scene for decades will never be the same after I was there! Thank goodness some city planners are getting some say in the planning of one of the most densely populated pieces of dirt in the world.

Within the Mtv studios live many nightly creatures. Office hours seem extremely loose and there seems to be no boss on the premises at all. Cases of Mtv peeps that you can't believe and ones you wish you could be surive in photobooth strips of their one-time-presence on Mtv soil evidence. Everyone you can imagine has taken their turn inside the photobooth (I have, but unfortunately I definitely did not make any of the cases). These photos have never been seen!

But that’s only where the journey began! . . .

Northworst

Mtv chauffeured me to the JFK airport in New York. Traffic was grid-locked, which I thought was odd for a Thursday afternoon at 2:30 pm. Barely getting to the airport in time for my 4:02 pm flight to Detroit with my connection to Madison, I find the “gate” for my plane. Oh, but it isn’t your typical gate. No, no. This one only gets you onto a bus which then takes you out to your plane.

The lady was extremely slow and sassy who was taking our boarding passes only taking first class for the first ten minutes of boarding (rows 1-4) and then finally as we all check our watches in angst she allows us the privilege of getting on the bus. The bus takes us to the center of the gigantic expanse of tarmac where our beautiful NWA plane awaits. Once we reach the plane the driver exits and leaves us sardines packed in the bus waiting in the sun.

For 20 minutes we bang on the glass doors to be let out - people on the sunny side have beads of sweat around their foreheads. We are finally let out of the bus and unleash a blitz of questions and comments to the gate agents and whoever else they hire at airports now to watch over thousands of people each day. I tell the agent they have a plane full of people who will no longer fly Delta or Northwest. With no apology or even a response I board our flight.

We sit from 4:10 pm to 5:40 pm on the tarmac. My connection will be real tight.

Our flight is 1 hour and 18 minutes. We arrive at 7:01 pm and I run (RUN) from gate A20 to A67. For all you travelers out there who know the Detroit airport, it's roughly 1 mile long. I find my gate out of breath to have the gate agent barely look up and say, “you’re late”. I say, “No, you were”. They take their sweet time to rebook me on the “next” flight at 9:15 while the plane leaving to go to Madison just sits at the gate for another ten minutes.

Now, my family is in town and have been sitting in my parking lot since 7:30 pm.

I’m livid.

I shop, I eat and I walk. I head to gate A66 at 8:40 pm to find the gate shows Chicago instead of Madison. I ask if it has been moved gates and the gate agent says yes and tells me it’s at A21 (the other end of the terminal). Now, fearing I will miss this flight and it be my fault I grab the tram and ride down to A21.

I get to the gate and it does not show any flights outgoing. I grab a gate agent one gate down and ask where the flight is out of and she points out it was rebooked for 9:15 AM - - tomorrow morning! But, she finds me a flight for 10:35pm. I will be arriving Madison, WI at 10:48pm tonight to get to my house hopefully by 11pm. Sleeping on the living room floor so my uncle and aunt have a nice bed and then up at 5am to ride into work. Oh joy.

How is this traveling worth it?

I need sleep and my girlfriend.

Till Them Fields!

2009-05-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's been hiding not far away.
It had become faded yet was still unavoidable and quite noticeable.

It's my cyclists tan! And oh it is back!

Mike and I got out Saturday morning without Jesse Lalonde (who apparently thinks 8am is too early for a 5-hour ride) for a wonderful 89-miler. What started out as a pissy day turned into the most brilliant ride of the year to date. 74 degrees and sun with the wind seemingly at our backs for 75% of the ride!

The flox is blowing up on the embankments and the scent of honeysuckle is over whelming - it is the time of the year to be out on a bicycle! We passed upwards of 60 cyclists all out for the first ride of the year most likely. Many of them appearing lost as they dug in with their upright hybrids as they climbed the rolling hills of southwest Wisco.

A couple of those very cyclist I offered to help with directions was the head cheese himself of Trek Bicycle Corporation itself, Mr. John Burke and his wife Tania Worgull. JB was sporting the newest of new 2010 Madone's with all it's internal cable routing fancifications and new, more rounded tubes. Tania was on here Kuala Bear/Giro D'Italia pink Madone and coordinating pink Aeolus 5.0's - a beautiful bike I might add. JB wasn't able to muster much for conversation but was able to state what a "nice bike" I had. Let me remind the audience I am trucking a Project One Madone 6.9 Pro with Aeolus wheels and the 7900 Dura Ace (which I'm not entirely impressed with or even close to confident is actually can be considered an "evolution" from the 7800). . . . I think we've seen pictures of my carbon fiber pony already.

I have been feeling so great on these longer rides I just have to wonder when my race legs will begin to be under me instead of all the guys I'm racing against. I stepped onto the scale tonight and it stopped and blinked at 187.5. For all of you skinny bitches out there who keep track and who know cycling, that basically means I'm the one who deserves the cow bell. I am the tank.

Last week Marko Lalonde out rode his bro to take his first top podium spot - Mr. Marko weighs in at a "tie-me-down-it's-blustery-out" 136 lbs. He is basically a sheet of paper. Jet paper airplane perhaps but still a sheet of paper. His power to weight ratio is a touch different than mine.

I'm a fatty - I get it. I have some months ahead of me to thin out and I've already informed my physical therapist we are not DONE with any muscle building exercises and will now solely focus on stretching and range of motion.

Race Report

2009-05-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

Mafia settles into the racing scene with fresh PBR ready for anyone!

WORS race #1 is complete and Mafia Racing had an excellent day! Four podiums! Top finish of the day was our amazing elite female, Abby Strigel, taking 2nd place overall!

Other finishers were Bryce Schmidt in his first WORS race on his 69er single-speed taking 11th. Nick Caliva (left sportin' a PBR tee in white) rolled in at 17th overall in Comp and John Miller finished mid-pack at the elite level.

For myself, the men's elite race began under wonderfully sunny skies and mid-sixties temps. It was all the old faces in the shoot with all 10 out of 10 series place finishers showing up for the first grinder this spring. It should have worried me, but it didn't - it was great to see all of the guys from last year in their new digs all excited about what glory this season will bring!

Called up 7th I found a lovely place (guy in gray w/hand in back pocket) on the front line between Tom Bender and T.J. Woodruff (numbers 4 & 2 from 2008 respectively) and out of the gates was running 2nd up the loose gravel hill. I found myself in 1st about a mile in, which should have worried me...and it did this time. There is always a split thought as to why you're off the front, there is always the chance you're just so huge this year no one will see you for the next 24 miles. But, what came abruptly after this thought was a rude awakening and revisiting of last year on the same course... I got passed by about 20 guys in a matter of a couple miles.

I dropped off.

I will say this, my endurance is...okay. My strength is...okay. But my race pace is precisely NOT that - a race pace. The intensity of a typical WORS race at the elite level is much like the kick of the final portion of a running race. But in the WORS the kick is the entire race; it is the race.
First lap I didn't take water which is quite typical for the level of anxiety I had going into this race - I generally don't think to drink when the intensity is more than I can handle. I tried again and again but failed right away to hold anyone's - ANYONE'S wheel. Then third lap I began to cramp in my calves. I couldn't believe they were locking up already. But, my fourth and fifth lap were uplifting as I maintained and even fought back a few spots (which at that level does not come easy).

I finished 17th overall and 5th in my new older age group of 30-39 (ages are according to your Dec. 31st age).

I felt pretty ho-hum about the place. I was hoping for top-ten but that obviously went bye-bye about three miles into the 25 mile race. I'm not shattered though - last year I began the season slow too and finished in top shape. I have to keep reminding myself that WORS are not my central focus this year - though it is quite difficult because there is so much shit-talk that goes on pre-race at a WORS event and with twelve of these great races in all it's a lot of shit to deal with.

My new ride felt spectacular I am pleased to report. I modified the tires since the Bontrager XDX's I had on there weighed roughly what my Pirelli's weigh on my Audi. I took my stock Bontrager Jones ACX's in hand with a utility knife and about three hours to kill and hacked 'em up something fierce! When it was all said and done I had a really light, fast tire I could probably sell back to Keith Bontrager for $100,000. It was PERFECT! I have been waiting for a tire I can confidently jam into a corner with and not have all my 188.5 lbs blow right through and off on a tangent towards the nearest red pine. The rear was fast and narrow but the front tire held me strong! I'm so pumped! - I have my race tires for the season!

Two weeks before the Rhinelander WORS #2 - Great Job Mafia Racing Midwest!

New Ride

2009-05-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Yo! So here it is! My new Felt Nine Team Limited Edition - you won't see this in any magazine! Well maybe now you will!

Felt Bicycles hooked Mafia Racing up BIG with this frame. I've only turned the pedals ten times or so but I can feel the speed in it! First race this weekend at Iola, WI - can't wait to turn her loose!!!

Check out my bio on the Felt Bicycles website here!

Now I have the ride I've always dreamed of.....
...it's an investment right!?? I mean by placing these simple items on my car I've increased the value of it three-fold!

Mafia Racing Team Midwest will be rolling into the WORS for the first time this weekend with guns blazin'! As of now I am not placing major consideration on the WORS season but it's still fun to hang the balls out there and see what comes of it!

Light It Up

2009-05-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

New product:

Torch - After-Burn, a recovery drink my physical therapist recommended for me. I don't even like chocolate and this was super easy to drink and you only need to mix 8 ounces of water with it. No idea where to get it though...

What's That White Stuff?

2009-05-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

Mmm... riding to work and then home from work twelve hours apart from one another one might think the weather might change. Guess not! Ride to work in the rain, ride home in the rain.

One recommendation I have for you cyclists out there - make sure you rinse your bibs really, really well!

After reaching my front door, the rain came down cats & dogs as I found shelter under my eave. I look at my saddle and here's what I find!

All's Fair in Love & WORS

2009-05-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Here it is - finally! It’s been just about exactly 6 months since the last WORS (Wisconsin Off Road Series) race. A lot has happened since then - whew! Mtv challenge in New Zealand and subsequent travel, shoulder surgery, being picked up by Mafia Racing pro mtb team, rehab (ongoing) & beginning my career as a landscape architect!

In all of that it’s amazing to me how little I’ve been in the saddle. First of all - Bunim/Murray (my production company for the challenges) completely dissallowed me to bring a bike to New Zealand for the taping of the challenge. This was so tough - at that point the Chequamegon was only just becoming a memory and the Iceman Cometh was set for only a couple weeks out. I was so upset but thought it was even possible to lose on the challenge and then make it home in time to compete in it. Once the date passed I knew the season was over and it allowed me to fully concentrate on the challenge at hand.

I left for NZ on October 27th and didn’t return with Kate until December 15th. At no time in there was I on a bike. Perhaps good since I did my good fair share of finding out how much time is demanded to actually try and compete with the men at the pro/elite level. Saris was gracious enough to sponsor me a beautiful Super Magneto Pro stationary trainer for my rehab of my shoulder but lets be honest....it’s not the same as being on your roadbike 65 miles into a century on a 80 degree day. Why, oh why do we live in Wisconsin?

With those six months behind me now and only one more week until we crash Iola, WI with Mafia Racing and our 15 cases of PBR for the first time ever I feel like my miles are adequate for the beginning of the season. My goal this year is to peak for mtb nationals in Breck and Grandby, CO around the 4th of July and then again for the Chequamegon Fat Tire mid-September. Speaking of which, does anyone have any idea where to rent a altitude tent??? I cannot take three weeks off of work to aclimatize for nationals. Is it a little unfair to . . . everyone who is not from Colorado to race in the real mountains at real elevation?

Please Pass the Puns

2009-05-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting time in my life these past couple months. I was hired as a Landscape Designer & Project Manager with Watts Landscape near Madison, WI and since I have been adjusting to a whole new life schedule.

I, for roughly the past five years, have been living without many constraints or borders - quite literally. It has not mattered what time I went bed nor did it even matter what day of the week it was - it didn’t matter. I could be flying out Saturday morning for a gig and then have Tuesday and Wednesday off and that would be my weekend - Tuesday and Wednesday. It was okay and I didn’t mind it and actually I reveled in the fact that others had to all be on the weekend together. I spent my weekends with malls empty as well as back roads for cycling.

However, now that I need to be in the office for our daily morning meetings to get all the crews their daily assignments at 6:40 am I have found myself feeling a bit of the old man bug. Settling into my new office I was driving my A4 Avant each day to transport items which could not be carried by a messenger bag on a bike. Now that I am fairly settled, I decided to get my needed training miles in for my moonlighting racing career with Mafia Racing by commuting each day from the NE side of Lake Mendota (my condo and home). So.....my wake-up call is 5:00 am. On my Madone 6.9 Pro commuter by 5:30 and sweating shortly thereafter.

If I go the most direct route to work my commute is a respectable 15 miles one-way and if I have time (and the energy) I have three other routes with longer rides I can opt for my evening return. The first is probably close to 18 miles and is the route I take when doing my physical therapy for my shoulder Tuesdays and Thursdays. The second is my favorite - 19 miles with a very steep decent which can rapidly get your body above 50mph. If the wind is from the West it is a ride which feels much like you’re on the inside of a pelaton or auto-pacing - it....is....awesome! The third and the longest is just 22.5 miles but includes a much longer section into the prevailing westerlies for about 5 miles.

Another great thing about Watts is there is a shower I can use. Which, actually was inoperable up until my start there but now I have outfitted with a nice translucent bamboo shower curtain with a woven wood shower mat. Quite nice and any cyclist commuter can attest it is not easy in America for employers to welcome cyclist commuters.

So, yes. I hate to say it to myself but, welcome to the real world!

Coming To You Live!

2009-04-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Across the air waves here I come! John and Tammy yesterday morning and now Connie and Fish this morning - Mtv better thank me for my tireless promotion of this evenings premiere of The Duel 2. Ha - yeah right, just like they paid for my shoulder surgery!

If you didn't get a chance to tune in, you can find the audio and a blog video I did for Connie and Fish here: connieandfish.com

Alright - I gotta get this condo clean for the party tonight!

Goin' P.R.O.

2009-03-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Being a pro is pretty much everything its cracked up to be. Being pro twice . . . that's just a trip!

I began my career today. It was my first day at Watts Landscape Service. Our firm is a design/build firm - meaning that we can design and build the project while we are also able to do either independently. I will be punching between 30 and 35 hours a week estimating and designing for prospective jobs, selling our excellent work and also project managing our first-rate landscaping crews. I am really excited about this job because it is a welcome change to normalcy for me. For far too long I have not cared what day of the week it was for my job did not care what day it was. My weekend would fall mid-week most all the time. Never would I be granted an actual full two-day weekend off! - that's absurd! Now I will be cherishing my Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with beautiful long rides or perhaps even just relaxing (probably not).

The best part about my job is my new boss - he believes in me and even thinks my varied background is pretty entertaining.

Going pro for Mafia Racing has changed my scope of my mountain bike racing just as going pro - that is young professional pro, in landscape architecture has allowed me to focus more of my energy to these two elements of my life. I believe it has also centered me in my relationship with Kate and has and will open many new and exciting doors for us!

This has been a really exciting past couple months for sure. Arriving home after two months in New Zealand filming the upcoming Mtv show; The Duel 2, with my shoulder disassembled and surgery inherently on the near horizon, then hooking up with Mafia Racing and becoming a sponsored pro athlete. Spending a week with Kate and her bro and his girl in beautiful, sunny Florida catching Catfish. Now my bike race frames are arriving as well as my well overdue Project One Madone 6.9 Pro (of course) on it's way from Trek as well as my most recent employment change! WOW! I'm one lucky guy!

Now if I can just scrape enough money together to pay the heat this month . . .

On the Road Again

2009-03-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well it's been just about nine weeks since my labrum repair. Doctors orders are to stay off the bike for three months then get back at it. If you're doing the calculations that would be April 19th - 1 day after Sea Otter. I was really hoping to join my teammate Abby Strigel out there but I have the strong feeling that after my operation and one and a half solid months of rest, I'd be better off spending my frequent flyer miles later this season.

I'm am sad I won't be joining Abby out West. She just spend over three months riding all over California and Washington. I'm so jealous. We rode two days ago in what turned out to be a record rainfall day. 2.28" recorded making 2009 the new precipitation champion over 1904.

Pretty strange - I don't know if anyone else is keeping track but the weather sure has seemed to have gone to the extremes in the past five years. What was it, just last winter was Madison's largest snowfall in recorded history....now just over 12 months later we have the record-breaking rainfall event!?? In articles I've read and classes I have taken, experts say with global warming, the weather extremes will become even more extreme and the average will become less and less. Scary for sure - GET ON A FRIGGIN' BIKE!!!

Aaaaaanyhow...back to our Rainfall Ride. Abby came over a bit early after my physical therapy to enjoy some eggs I got from a friend with a chicken coop. Just the day before they had been laid by some beautiful hen and now they were cooking up nicely for us. They were delish! Of course covered in asiago and marble jack cheese but noticeably tastier than store bought. We hit the road with the wind at our back (always a scary way to start) and aimed for a decent hour and a half ride so Abby could make it back in time to shower and head off for her first day at Trek.

About 35 minutes in we turned to face the wind, and rain of course. At this point we were done sharing jokes and riding side-by-side and now, heads buried in between our shoulders we drafted one another trying to avoid road-spray off each others tires (always a great reason sand ends up in your teeth). The temp steadied at well above freezing - thirty-five at least! The rain began to sting our frozen cheeks - the kind where smiles fade slowly or weather reporting frowns slowly transition to a grin.

With our booties plump with water as well as our gloves we rounded the final turn in our loop and churned head-long into the gale. 5 miles to go I told Abby as she broke for us. Our first ride as teammates and friends will go down in the record books...literally.

Today was a different story however, single speed action...

I worked at 10:30am - which is nice I agree and am fully understanding seeing as my new job with Watts Landscape Service begins Monday.....at 7:00am. The office is only down the road from Trek another ~4 miles and I would love to commute to add many miles to my weekly output. Otherwise I wouldn't get to ride at all. This means I would have to leave a good 1.5 to 2 hours before I needed to be good to go at work...at 7am. That's friggin' early. My life will change big time here in only three more days. I have a grown-up job...and about time.

But my ride into Trek this morning was wonderful. It's been about five months since I'd done that particular route to Trek - it's one of my favorites - 25 miles usually straight into the wind for the first 15 then, after climbing two nice little hills, with the wind at your back, fire back into the West side of Madison finishing at a great pace.

Today, however, my pace was a bit off and so I was late to work by about 15 minutes. I guess single-speeding it as well as four months off the bike has let my legs get soft.

Landon (From the Real World)

2009-03-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

The end is imminent. Peoples' skills of recognition have been gathering dust and thus been unable to identify local "B" or even "C"-level celebrities with the skill which most hawks would be envious of. At night, riding a bike in a group of riders...no problem. Walking through an airport with a plane to catch while on the phone walking with a friend...no problem. The abnormal stares which had become a sure sign of being spotted and destined for a one-question conversation ("Aren't you that guy from the real world? 'Yeah'.................") had almost come to a pleasant end will now be electrified back to life now.

The premiere of Mtv's The Duel 2 will air April, 8th at 10pm et.

Mtv's The Duel 2 Trailer

It's very true its not all puddles and clouds in my life though. This show should be a blast to tune into. In short, the filming of it was 6 weeks filled with snow, rain, intense sun (due to the hole in the ozone layer hovering over New Zealand) and plenty of good 'ol sweat. This challenge will be a lot different from the others which I've been on (The Inferno II & The Gauntlet II). This challenge is you against the world and you can win $100,000.00 all to yourself. Big stakes for sure.

You can see pictures taken while Kate was visiting after the show had wrapped (bottom of the page).

Enjoy!

Go Ahead, Stretch Out

2009-02-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

Being on the disabled list has been an interesting departure from my typical day-to-day life. It requires all sorts of new and interesting spins on the efforts of just getting out the door in the morning. I have learned how to put on socks with only one hand standing up among hundred of other tasks. One thing about not yet being in training full on is my reluctantcy to accept club gigs.

Iowa City had it in for itself last night when we came from Des Moines in the longest stretch limo I've ever been in. But, seeing as I was there all by myself doing this appearance I needed to recruit some able bodies to help fill out my ride. A little networking landed me three fellas who knew about ten other university coeds in Iowa City.

The two-hour drive from Des Moines to the Kamodo Klub in Iowa City was lengthened by a couple rest stops and two of three fine recruits heaving ho inside the limo. Luckily for Dave, our driver, we had the incredible forethought to snatch a plastic garbage bag from the rest stop. But once arrived in Iowa City and piled the rest of our socialites into the limo and headed downtown everything was in perfect swing.

While we were clubbin' it up inside Kamodo a fresh blanket of snow had fallen making our commute back to Des Moines even longer. Rolling in about 4:30am I was roused to find all Tim, Matt and Dave out cold - each stretched out on the animal print seats. Time to get some sleep and do it again tonight.

A Word From Our Sponsors

2009-02-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

I would like to take a minute to introduce all of my sponsors so far this season. Not only are these products some of the highest quality on the market but these companies are the highest of quality. All of these companies have contributed to my ability to concentrate more on my training than working extra hours to afford race entry money and travel costs.

Mafia Racing, Felt Bicycles, Pabst Blue Ribbon, GoFast, GU, Crank Brothers, Giro, Illegal Petes, Twin Six, CycleOps

Thank you!

Operating Table

2009-01-30T16:25:00.000-08:00

Naked - check. I.V. - check. Scalpel - check.

Next I wake up not knowing pretty much anything at all. They wheel me into see Kate and my parents waiting in a room for my recovery medicated and feeling totally buzzed. My labrum had been ripped from it's original spot in my shoulder almost completely. My doctor later told my buddy that it was pretty bad in there and it was good that I had gotten it taken care of. For a typical labral repair they anchor one or two stainless steel studs to your bone and then lasso your labrum with some rope/fishing line looking material and force your labrum to contact your bone. I, however, required four (4) anchors since my labrum had been torn from "12:30 to 7". Which brings me to my sling - six weeks, no movement past a bicep curl. For me, it was just what my off season needed - not. I'll be in this sling for 4 more weeks taking if off only for showers. Luckily, the "incisions" or rather the stab marks they attempted to patch up in three places on my shoulder (two in the front and one in the back) which looked like three little kitten assholes have smoothed since they took out the stitches. Neosporin to my rescue to save the beautiful skin on my left shoulder. I'll give this thing about three more weeks and I'll be back on my trainer full time baby!

I'm in the MAFIA

2009-01-30T16:18:00.000-08:00

So it's settled...finally! I signed with Mafia Racing (www.mafiaracing.com) for my 2009 mountain bike season. I'm so relieved - finding someone to support my addiction has taken a ton of work and even more patience (which I have precisely none of). This season has the ability to be the best ever with support from many ends. My race bio should be up on our bicycle sponsor's website, http://www.feltracing.com/ shortly as well as Mafia's site.

Thanks Mafia Racing!

Welcome!

2008-12-19T15:48:00.001-08:00

So here I am. My old website has long since run out but this format seems much more my style: easy. I can keep this up-to-date as much as I like and add pictures, pictures, pictures! Love it.

For the past two months I have been in New Zealand tramping about the south island. What a place! I almost did not come back. New Zealand has so many things going for it that this country just doesn't get...like health care. I'm 29, never smoked a cigarette and I can't get health insurance. WTF. Whatever, if there is one thing I've learned in those 29 years its that you must take care of yourself. So, if you find yourself 4000 kilometers from the South Pole I suggest setting down in Queenstown, NZ for a few days. The bunjee jump was invented there twenty years ago (almost to the day) and is considered the adrenaline capital of the world. I compare it to a unpretentious Aspen. Nestled within a couple ranges of mountains, Lake Wakatipu practically laps up onto it's tourist-dollar driven downtown streets and has a very friendly taste to it's atmosphere. The toughest element of traveling in NZ is getting there. When my girlfriend Kate decided to join me for a tramp down the Kepler Track in the Fiordland National Park her flight on US Air/Air New Zealand emptied her account by nearly $2200. Buuut, once on the ground the American dollar was nearly 2:1 so finding economic lodging and food was reaso
nable, enjoyable even to consume.

If you're like me at all, or anyone in the cycling industry, you will find NZ most inviting. You are rarely out of sight of a mountain range or some sort of water feature and most road are twisting around fields full of sheep. In NZ there are estimated to be over 60 million sheep but only 3 million human residents. About 2 million which live on the north island. You can hitchhike with confidence and find hostels for as low as $5 USD per night.

The trip was a beautiful success besides the over 30 hours return trip back to my condo in Madison. I did all I could do in the time I had (in typical American fashion) spending six of the nearly 8 weeks in Queenstown then visiting Te Anu, Milford Sound, The Catlins then Dunedin before pointing our Nissan Sunny back towards Queenstown to catch our flight en route to LAX.

Photos to follow.