12 Hours of GEARS

I scheduled a appointment with a shoulder specialist tomorrow instead of waiting 4 weeks like the original doctor wanted. This weekend is the 12 hours of GEARS, WEMS race in Kewaskum, WI. I will be pitting for Scott Cave as well as racing in the 3 hours solo race during the day. If my shoulder hurts too bad then my plan is to do 1 lap and pull off so I can collect some points. We will be leaving Thursday and returning Sunday, making a mini vacation out of it. My future race schedule is up in the air until I see the doc tomorrow.

I,robot is a decent movie. Wonder if that's what things will be like in the future??

Road Ride

I decided to ride home from work today, from Eagan to Belle Plaine (about 40 miles). It was a nice ride, I need to tweak my route a little but plan on doing it again. My shoulder feels fine but looks terrible. I think I'm gonna call the specialist on Monday and see If I can see him sooner instead of waiting 4 weeks. I have the next 2 days off so hopefully I can get another road ride in.

Sarah and I are going to see the movie i,robot tomorrow. I'll post my critique tomorrow night or Monday.

Donations

I added a Paypal link to my homepage today. The link will give anyone the ability to donate to my racing effort. All donations will be greatly appreciated and go a long way in making me a better and more experienced racer and person.

Broken Clavical

I went to the doctor on Tuesday to have them look at my shoulder. I was told my clavical is broken in the shoulder socket where it connects to the scapula. There isnt much they can do other than have me take it easy. They said no mountain biking for 6 weeks but we'll see. They also scheduled me to see a specialist in 4 weeks to have it looked at once the swelling goes down. My plan is to scrap the WORS series and focus on the WEMS and MNSCS series. I won't be racing tonight at buck or this weekend.  I set my Trek up with slicks and plan on riding that on the road while I heal.

From Green Man to Bluff Rider

What a busy, but fun weekend racing. It all started Friday @ 10am when Scott Cave and I left for Spirit Mountain in Duluth. We were the first team to arrive and got the prime pit position. We set up our pit area and helped the Red Bull people erect a huge tent. At this point we moved the Gravity Lab truck to the parking lot and were going out to pre-ride the course. While parking the car we met up withTim Norrie, the defending race winner and fellow Gravity Lab racer. He joind us for the pre-ride. Unfortunately I got a front flat tire early into the ride on the first fast down hill and did a huge header, my left shoulder still hurts. We fixed the tire and finished our ride although I was kinda slow. I ended up pitting for Scott and Tim during the race which kept me very busy. Scott also got a flat front tire on lap 2 of the race and crashed. Losing 30 minutes because of the flat tire, Scott stormed back through out the day and finished 8th. Tim had a great day and finished 2nd, although I think he could have won the race.
 
Scott and I left Spirit Mountain after the awards and headed back to his house. We slept for a few hours and left for Mt. Kato in Mankato. I raced my Single Speed and Scott helped me in the pits. I rode a very cautious race because of my shoulder, collecting 4th place points and going home. I currently have a firm grasp on 3rd place in the series points.
 
We pitted next to Jeff Kerkove's pit at the 12 hour race in Duluth. He parents pitted for him, what nice people they are.  This weekend its off to another WORS race, more details to come. I'm gonna bring my Sugar into Gravity Lab tomorrow and have Hollywood fix a few things before this weekend. I'm also gonna have him fix Melissa's front tire and pick up a extra tube. She is gonna race this Sunday too so it will be another nice family weekend, with Sarah taking pictures.

Counter

I added a counter to the page. My HTML isn't that great and I think I screwed up some of the fonts while installing the counter. I will work on the fonts so that the page will be easier to read.

I probably wont post again until Monday. I will have results from Thursday night, the 12 hour Nationals, and the MNSCS race in Mankato.

Itsyourturn.com

If you enjoy board games, check out www.itsyourturn.com. I have been playing there for several years and enjoy it very much. You can play for free although they have paid memberships too. Invite me for a game if interested. screenname: chucker.

Went for a burley ride with Melissa today. Rode to Le Sueur and back. Not sure how many miles but I had to ride into a nasty wind on the way back, along with pulling Melissa.

Sunburst Showdown

I had a decent race this past weekend. I improved my time by a few minutes over last year so that is good. I took 14th in my age group and 108 overall. Melissa also raced for the first time and that was fun. Its nice to make a family weekend around a race.

This week I'm racing my SS Thursday night at Buck Hill, and then leaving Friday morning for Duluth. Scott and I are getting together Wednesday to finalize everything for the 12 hour National Championship. Sunday I will be racing my SS at Mt. Kato, so this will be a busy weekend pitting and racing.

I have tomorrow off so I'm planning on getting in a good ride.

Melissa's first race: WORS Youth Race, Sunburst Showdown, Sunburst Ski Area, Kewaskum, Wi. July 11, 2004 

Figure 8

I raced my Singlespeed at the Penn race @ Buck Hill last night. The course had a figure 8 section in it where the track crossed. It made things kinda interesting but I don't think there were any crashes because of it. The course was tough though, it had a lot of long climbs but the single track was fun. I got killed on the climbs and had to walk up a few so that hurt my finish. I need to ride more during the week. I only got out once this week and that was a burley ride.

I gotta cut the grass and pack everything for the WORS race this weekend. I have to work tomorrow and then we are leaving as soon as I'm done. I'll give a update when I get back. I'm gonna race the Sugar, I heard there is a lot of climbing.

Raining, again!

Well I have the day off today and was planning on going riding but as usual its raining. If its nice later I will take out the Singlespeed and go for a burley ride with my daughter.

I'm planning on racing my SS in the Penn race this Thursday so I can get everything else ready for this weekend. Plus I need the extra work the SS makes me get.

I have everything lined up for this weekends WORS race at the Sunburst Ski Area in Kewaskum, Wi. The family is going with so we will be leaving Saturday after I get off work and driving to West Bend, Wi. for the night. I will be racing in the Citizen 30-34 class. I have only been to one WORS race so far this year but plan on making it to at least 7 events total for the series. My goal is to place in the top 3 in points. This is the only series I still race in the Citizen class and am planning to move up next year if I do this series.

I'm curious if anyone is actually reading this blog, so drop me a comment if you happen to check it out. Thanks and have a nice day!

July Race Schedule

July 1, Penn Cycle Series @ Buck Hill, Burnsville, MN. - Rec. class

July 8, Penn Cycle Series @ Buck Hill, Burnsville, MN. - Rec. class

July 11, WORS Race - Sunburst Showdown, Kewaskum, WI. - Citizen class

July 15, Penn Cycle Series @ Buck Hill, Burnsville, MN. - Rec. class

July 17, 12 Hours of Green, Duluth, MN. - I will be pitting for Scott Cave as he tries to win the 12 Hour Solo National Championship

July 18, MNSCS #6 Bluff Riders Charge, Mankato, MN. - Single Speed class

July 22, Penn Cycle Series @ Buck Hill, Burnsville, MN. - Rec. class

July 25, WORS Race - Phillips Dirtfighter Classic, Phillips, WI. - Citizen class

July 31, WEMS 12 Hours of GEARS, Kewaskum, WI. - 3 Hour Solo class - I will also be pitting for Scott Cave as he races in the 12 Hour Solo class

I will provide more specific info on each event as I participate in them. Thanks for reading.

Getting the Sugar dialed in

Well I raced the Sugar for the first time Thursday night. I need to adjust a few things but it went well otherwise. I wasn't able to pre-ride the course or warm up as much as I needed too because of a rain storm that lasted up until the start of the race. I'm not sure what place I finished, I'll have to check out Penn's website when they post the results. Dan Swanson did the course which was one of the longer ones we have done. They said there were 15 DNFs in the rec class, what's up with that?

We are going to the Taste of Minnesota today with the Wilkins and Cave families, I hope it doesn't rain. I'm working this holiday weekend so all the employees can have a nice 4th.

My next race is the WORS race next Sunday. I'll give more details later.

Have a nice 4th of July Holiday!

Thursday Night Racing

Getting ready to leave work and head over to Gravity Lab and pick up my Single speed that Hollywood was working on. I'm also gonna pick up a set of Air light Hutchinson Python tires for my Sugar which I'm going to race tonight at Buck Hill. Penn Cycle has a Thursday night series at Buck hill and I race in their rec category, which is usually 2 laps (aprox. 3-4 miles per lap). I'll post tomorrow with details from the race tonight.