Welcome to the Pain Cave!

That pretty much sums up my first ever short-track cross country race. For those that don't know what short track is, here goes..... Imagine a bunch of riders all together on the same short course. The course was about 2 mins long, and you keep going in circles until some random guy with a pot belly says 2 more minutes. I swear if that guy were ever to experience the hurt that we do on a short-track race, he would ring that damn bell sooner. Anyway, we raced around this same 2 min long course for 25mins straight, then they call out 2 more laps. So pretty much you are going all out for about 29mins, not a heck of a lot of fun. I guess there are some tactics to it as well, but I chose to disregard any insight the veterans had for me, and went off the front of the pack right away. Great Idea, I was thinking to myself. What an idiot!!!!! Anyway here is the aftermath............................. Heart Rate Max was 196. By-the-way, thats the highest I have seen it all year.That was the closest I have ever been to revisiting my breakfast on a bike before. Just ask one of the other guys in my class. One kid finally caught me, and decided to put an attack on. I countered and sat on his wheel, to the top of the climb, where he quickly released his innards!! I passed him, and ended up beating him in a sprint finish on the final lap. It was super fun, but was really painful!

Joanna ended up finding out that she was going to have to race against the sport women, and that everyone could see the whole course from the ski deck, and that everyone would be able to watch her. She opted out of the short-track.

After spending all week trying to get over some nasty bug I got while I was in Michigan, my voice was gone, lungs were full of phlegm, and the short track didn't help anything. The XC race on Sunday was pretty disappointing. I had the lead through the climb, and hit the single track section with one other rider in sight. We caught the expert women that went off in front of us, and he got around them, and I didn't. I came out of the single track, and went to hit the gas, and the engine puttered a little, and conked out! That pretty much sums it up, it took everything I had to finish in 3rd place. Oh-well, a good week of rest ahead of me, and one more MSC race. Keystone is Labor Day weekend. Joanna finished the XC race in the top spot on the podium once again. If I could only get her to race the short-tracks, she would have the series points standings all wrapped up.

After the race on Sunday, the team help it annual team BBQ. There was lots of great food (Thanks Strouse!), Cold Beer (Thanks Breckenridge Brewery), and fun. Another great weekend for COMotion, 1000 points both days, that pretty much leaves only crying left for Rocky Mountain Racing!!!! Congrats to everyone, especially TC! Your killin' it man! Here are some more pics to enjoy..

Here is the start of the Pro/Semi-Pro Men Short-track start. Once again, thanks to Colorado's great monsoon season, the skies opened up and poured. Making the hurt that I talked about earlier, hurt even more....

Here's Juth, Me, and Felix right after finishing the XC race on Sunday. Remember all that rain I talked about, yup, the course was a little on the muddy side. Super fun though! Great course, just wish I was feeling better.

Camping again with the dogs

COMotion Pro Steve Iles, sufferin' in the rain during the short-track

Thats it for now, Finally we are going to have a weekend home without much to do. Although the FJ40 is suppose to be done this weekend, so I may be heading to Denver one day to pick it up. I will post pics as soon as I get it home.

Michigan Road Trip!

Well, it was the first week of August, and Joanna and I made our annual trip back to MI, to visit the families. Of course, there is always an ulterior motive, Joanna's was her cousins wedding, mine of course was the Ore 2 Shore Mtb Epic Race in Marquette, MI. More on that later. We headed out all packed up 4 bikes, 2 dogs, clothes, and random shit. We headed to Traverse City first, to see Joanna's fam, and go to the wedding. I have always said that if I were to ever move back to MI, it would be to Traverse City area, and this trip only solidified that even more. NO WERE NOT MOVING BACK!!!!!! Anyway, the weather was great, we did some serious fishing, some sailing, some tubing, and some water skiing.

Here is Joanna's dad with dinner!!!!!!!

Check out Joanna's Honker!!!! Let me tell you were going to be eating good!!!! Only 100 more, and we will have a feast!

Let me tell you, the dogs surely loved being at Joanna's parents house. They swam everyday. I would cast the bobber in the water, and they would jump in and chase it. I didn't catch any fish. but the dogs got a good workout. Oh-yeah, Jeff, they apologize for digging that hole in your yard. They told me they were REALLY sorry, and hope they can come back.

Always fun times on the lake. I will admit, I do miss the water living in CO..........No were still not moving back!! By the way this is going to be a really long blog, because I have a whole week of activities to tell you about, sit tight, grab some popcorn, and bear with me.

Then we made the trip up to the U.P. of Michigan to visit my parents house for a couple days, and see a couple buddies from H.S. Bo, I know you read this, good to see you, hope you didn't drink too much at the Nickle!!! Plan on T.C. for the Iceman race in November! By-the-way, your little boys are cute, too bad they look like you though. They are already starting with one strike against them..... Just Kidding!!!!!!

We then headed to Iron River, MI, where my aunt, uncle, and 4 cousins live. Once again, we took part in some water activities that wore everyone out.

Next, it was off to Marquette, MI. Home of Northern Michigan University, where Joanna and I went to school. We rolled in on Friday, and got to see some college friends that are still there. NO, NO, they are not still in school, they DID graduate, and are living and working there. We didn't screw around that much in college. Anyway, the Ore 2 Shore (http://www.oretoshore.com) was on Saturday, and there are 2500 riders, and it is the largest mass start race in the country. (I think?). Anyway, there are a ton of people that do it, there is the 28mile race and 48 mile race. Joanna did the 28 miler, and I did the 48 miler.

Here is the Start of the Hardrock 48 miler- Trust me I am in there somewhere representing COMotion!!!!

The Ore 2 Shore is epic, because it is a 48 mile point to point race. It starts in an old mining town in the UP of Michigan called Negaunee. Negaunee is the home of Iron Ore mining, hence the Ore part of the race. It then traverses through power line trails, a little singletrack, huge forests, and oh-yeah, a shit ton of SAND!!! Did I mention yet, that I really hate riding in sand. Well the UP of Michigan is having an abnormally dry summer, so needless to say the sand was WAY worse than years past. It was like riding on a beach for most of the race. Sand was over the rims on your bike in a lot of parts. So any advantage I had going into the race from living in CO, was quickly evened out when we hit the beach! The race continues on and ends on the shores of Lake Superior. Absolutely beautiful, but NO I am still not moving home. Here is a before and after shot. Some people race this with surgical masks on, because of the iron ore dust.

Before..................

And After............

There was no mud on the course, this is all from the dust and sand. I am still pulling crap out of my ears and eyes. Well, as much as I was in the pain cave during the race, I didn't want it to end, because I knew as soon as it did, we had to immediately pack up and hit the road driving back to CO. I didn't even find out results until I got home Sunday night. Too bad too, because there would of been some COMotion Podium shots!!! I ended up 3rd in my age class, and 72nd overall. Not to bad considering all the racers, and the 100 preferred starts given. Joanna ended up 10th in her age class, another great race for her.

Overall, a great summer vacation, thanks to all our fams for putting us up, and putting up with us and the dogs. It was good to see everyone, we'll be back next summer. I am not sure yet if we are going to drive though. We ended up with 3552miles in 9 days. We are still trying to recover and get caught up with out sleep, and I have come down with a cold to boot. Off to Eldora Mtn, this weekend for another stop on the Mountain States Cup race series. 2 more to go! I will post those highlights or lowlights next week. Thanks again to everyone!!!!! Here are a couple more random pics to enjoy..

Joanna's Fam

The Dogs first pontoon boat ride

To-Hell-U-Ride

The Title pretty much sums it up. Telluride was the destination this past weekend for yet another Mountain States Cup Stop. Telluride was scheduled as a 2day event, with the Cross Country on Sat, and a Hill Climb on Sun. Who the hell thinks of this shit anyway, a "Hill Climb", doesn't the MSC people know I am not much of a climber!!! Sorry Chambers, I know this was right up your alley! Anyway, we rolled into T-ride on Friday, and right as we pulled into the campsite it started raining. The initial plan was to set up camp, go get our race plates, and get a preride in. Well, it kept raining, and raining, and raining, soooooooo needless to say, there was no preridin'. What the heck, just another XC race going in without knowing what to expect. It makes it all the more fun!!!! Anyway, the rain finally let up on Sat morning about 4:00am, and myself and the rest of the COMotion team was ready to dominate again! Course was extremely muddy to say the least, but made for some great racing. I went out with 2 other guys at the start and tried to hang on for dear life. Another typical mtn race course, straight up from the start, and I stayed on as long as I could. I felt pretty good, I finished my first lap, I saw Marcie (Felix's g-friend), and I was sitting in 2nd place, and she said I was only 10mins back. Are you f-ing kidding me, only 10 mins!!!! Thanks for the motivation Marcie (Just Kidding!!!), I knew I wasn't going to be gaining much of that back, the kid in the lead was a local kid, and knew the course like the back of his hand. I looked back after the first 2 climbs, and saw no one, so I just settled into a good rhythm, and finished the climb out. I ended up 2nd place by only 14mins!!!! I am glad it was so close. Anyway, Joanna had a great race as well, I caught her right on top the climb. She had to do one lap, and started 35 mins after me. I thought I would see her earlier, but she knocked the climb out. Anyway, COMotion had another great weekend, 3 or 4 1st places, and a handful of 2nds! We are still leading in the overall team standings, so 2 more races, and we should have the 5th straight title pretty much locked in!!! Joanna and I heading to Michigan this weekend for 10 days. We are leaving this afternoon, and driving straight through. Should be loads of fun, can't wait for scenic Nebraska and Iowa. I will get to do 2 bike races while I am back. The MI NORBA series has a race on Sun, and it is only 45 mins from Joanna's house, so I am going to go and race in the expert class against all those flatlanders and see how I can do. That will be the next post. Stay Tuned------ Here are some pics from T-Ride

Final Descent on my 1st lap:

Joanna on the Initial Climb out of the Start: Looks like she has her game face on!! Gees have a little fun would ya!!!!

Kalan (2nd Expert Men), Me, Felix (2nd sport men), Joanna ---Kalan is clean because he was just getting ready to start!

Joanna and I after the race, Not TOOOOO Muddy!!!!

Joanna must have scared everyone off at the awards ceremony.

Everyone showed up for my podium