B. Fosler

Gravel Drag Race to Blue Mounds

2010-07-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Some people would get sick to their stomach watching a few riders take their $6k road bikes on the Military Ridge trail. Well folks, eat your hearts out.

Want a good workout? Try following M. Gehling for 4 and a half hours...

New Whip

2010-07-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

I just got a new machine for the last race weekend. I think we finally found a winner. So far, this would be the 3rd bike I've raced this year. Just like they say, third time is a charm.

Lots of X's up front.

Flying the cape

2010-07-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Just remember to stay rad. Like I do.

WORS #4 Kewaskum

2010-06-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

(Photo cred: Jared Brodjeski)

Back on track finally, no mechanicals (knock on wood) and I was able to finish the race. Unfortunately, my 1x9 gearing wasn't gonna cut it for such a hilly course...with climbs that were 3+ minutes from bottom to top. Point taken and lesson learned for next time. I finished in 37th place this race, which is a little further back from my last finish, but the course was basically all slower climbs and it decimated my strength of power-climbs.

Found a groove to finally ride in after 2 or so laps and had fun. This race was definitely for the kids.

(Photo cred: Danny Marchewka)

Triple flats and loss of navigation. WORS #3

2010-06-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

So...3 flat tires and got lost for an hour or so. The irony is that I had a Garmin on my bike, but apparently there's no "OH SHIT!" button to navigate you back.

That's about how my race went. I (almost) finished and still had a smile on my face the entire time.

Photo cred MTBGirl and VeloGrrl

See you kids next time.

Feeling good

2010-05-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Birthday MTB practice with the TBSM Team was rad. Lots of practice steering my bicycle this week and I'm finally learning some "english" for the bike. It also doesn't hurt that I get to ride with bike Jedi's during practice.

First time on an actual road ride in 2+ weeks. That feels both weird and good. Nothing like 2x20 min intervals to get your legs cooking.

WORS #2 Rhinelander

2010-05-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

WORS #2 Race Report

So I did some evaluation from the first race and tried to apply that to WORS #2. I did, although I admit that I have another one to add to the list now:

#8. Don’t break your chain when you’re having the best race this year.

I broke the chain 20 minutes into the race. Bummer, huh? Well, here’s how my 20 minutes of fame went down.

3...2...1...GO! Pedal as hard as you can and jump to the front of the lead out, that’s usually where the fast guys hang out. The lead out was surprisingly easy considering the caliber of riders we had in the field, so I tried to sit in the top 10 spots into the singletrack. We climbed up a steep hill then turn right and I had enough time to look behind me and I was sitting in 7th wheel with a 100+ ft gap to the next rider behind me. So I’m thinking, “Sweet, I made the first break!”. Turns out that I did, but I pretty quickly got dropped in the singletrack and rode in no-man’s-land for a while until I was caught my by teammate Matt. We rode together for a while until I slipped in a corner and let him and 2-3 other riders pass. I kept riding and the came to a short incline, tried to shift to a smaller gear to spin and then my chain snapped. Race ended with not even a 1/2 lap finished.

The interesting part is that I hiked about 6 miles back to the expo area. Sweet workout. It’s too bad that my race ended early, but it does happen to all racers...I did get a chance to ride with some of the top riders in Wisconsin during the race, so it was a good learning experience for me.

WORS #1 Iola Report

2010-05-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure how I feel about this first race, the taste left in my mouth is a little bittersweet. Not bad for a first race, but not what I had hoped. I guess next time I'll need to show up to the gun show with some more ammo.

A little recap:

GO!

Climb.

Breathe.

Coast.

Climb.

Descend.

Pedal, pedal, pedal.

Turn.

Repeat.

What did I learn?

A better start position - It's f-ing hard to catch the fast riders once you're trying to chase them down. Most likely because they're actually faster than you because they're already in front of you. I might not be able to catch them, but I can probably fake it by sucking wheel for 2 hours next time.
Ride in groups - To my demise, I tried to drop the group I started the race with because I wasn't happy with how far back I was riding. Well, it turns out that those guys didn't like that so they caught me and then dropped me. Point taken, lesson learned.
Don't eat bar food the night before - Yeah, I know I'm dumb. You can blame all the non-racers that I ate with for that one.
Don't ever let Matt Gehling get away from you - 'Nuff said. He's been eating his spinach this season and is riding like a Jedi.
Ride the technical sections like your landlord is breathing down your neck for the overdue rent - My race went something like this: Pedal. Brake. Stomp on it. Brake. Turn. It should have been like this: Pedal. Turn. Pedal harder. Defy the laws of physics.
Practice riding your bike when you're really, REALLY tired - My handling was starting to feel like I knew how to ride a mountain bike, but that all went out the window at the race. Fortunately, I didn't over-ride my skills and crash, but I felt like I rode much too conservatively and lost time because of it.
Ride a full-suspension bike - It became embarrassingly evident that my handling skills were lacking in this crowd. A bike with more squishyness would have been helpful.

Lots to learn at this first race, but I did manage to ride a wheelie up the entire climb after the fast descent into the bowl on lap 4. That was super cool and so am I for doing that.

Thanks to Velogrrl for this podium photo.

Off-road, road ride.

2010-05-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Does it count as a road ride if I take my road bike off-road?

Either way, I'm sure it counts for bonus points.

Road Grit

2010-04-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Some days, you just need to grind your teeth and ride because you'll be fat and lazy if you don't. And, it doesn't hurt to not suck for the first race of the year.

This is from a little 2-hr loop that I found while riding to work. The first photo is from Timber Lane: one hell of a climb, but is definitely a favorite from this ride. The other photos are from the peak of Garfoot Rd, another steady grinder. Somehow this road already seems easier than last year...

Dirt reconnaissance

2010-04-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

This week, I did a little dirt reconnaissance to make sure all my knobby-tire bikes are up to par for the season. Here's a little of what it looked like.

45+ miles on the rigid, single speed FISHER ferrous will ripen your legs.

The view from the front of the H8TR.

And the back

Another FISHER in my arsenal bearing the TEAM colors.

Work and play

2010-04-12T20:54:00.001-07:00

IMAG0115
Originally uploaded by bfosler

I bet you wish your commute to work looked like this...

N. Carolina Favorites

2010-04-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the (very few) pictures I took.

The crew for the 1st day of MTB.
Lap 1:
Lap 2:

And finally, the irresistible urge to pee all over nature.

That's all I got for now.

Remember what's it like to ride your bike outside?

2010-02-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

In memory of being able to get outside without taking 20 minutes to dress, I've took some photos from spring break last year. Giddy up.

Blue Ridge Pkwy

Well...sandwiches. Yeah.

Tunnels

Tsali

And what trip would be complete without Ryan peeing off a deck?

Keep it rad.

Photo blog

2010-02-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I know it's been a while since I posted last...I think the cold weather syndrome has taken over my blogging life. Well to celebrate the upcoming season, this entry is a photo blog of the last summer/fall of riding and sure as shit hope it comes back soon!

New Year, New Team

2009-12-14T07:20:00.001-08:00

Hey all,

I am pretty excited to say that I am moving to a new team for 2010. Team Wheaton was an awesome group of guys to ride with for 2010 and we have accomplished a ton of things, including 1st Place Cat 3 rider at the Tour of America's Dairyland and numerous 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes throughout the road season.

For 2010, I will be riding for the Trek Bicycle Store of Madison being supported by Capitol Brewery based right here in Middleton, Bontrager, Trek Bicycle and Gary Fisher. Needless to say, it will be a very exciting season because we have a killer team list lined up. Not only am I able to race for my own bike shop, but I am getting to ride and be sponsored by our in house brands!

The team will be a MTB centered team, a departure from past seasons for me, but my roots are in mountain biking and I am excited to get back to riding dirt. Now, I will still have several road races on my calendar but my emphasis will be put on MTB and cyclocross. After riding the Chequamegon and a successful season in cyclocross, the choice was clear to make the full-on transition to the dirt.

Stay tuned for more details on the team, but you can be assured that our presence will be well known within the WORS circuit!

Cross season comes to an end

2009-11-25T08:35:00.001-08:00

Wow, can't believe it. The season is already over, it feels like I just am getting the hang of this cyclocross thing. Well, another great season in the books...this year has by far been the best season that I have ever had.

WI State Champs was the last race of the season for me and it certainly ended with a bang. GEO, Jen, FRYE and myself drove out to Hales Corners, WI to see what this race was all about. After arriving, it was clear that the course was great because it certainly attracted a lot of people including olympian, world champ and former PRO mountain biker Travis Brown.

We were able to catch some of the W's Cat 4 field, which JD won, and Frye and I registered and then scoped out the course. When I walked the course, it looked tough but not crazy hard. A flat, windy start led into a set of 4 barriers right around a corner which led into some more windy turns and some more flat stuff.

The backside of the course was where the really tough stuff was. After crossing a bridge and a few sets of hairpin turns, the hill climb stared back down at you. By the time I had hit the course, the climb was super greasy and was really tough to pick a good line without losing any traction. After climbing the hill, you did a 180 and went straight down that sucker. I was powersliding my 34mm tires the whole way down. Another few hairpin turns led into a sharp corner and a set of uphill barriers. A quick hop off the bike, a few steps and a hop back on put you on the last quarter of the course.

As usual, my stomach was in knots at the beginning...deciding between sprinting the start for the hole shot or sitting back and hopefully catching back up through the race. You can even see my apprehension in this picture. The gun went off, I chose to sprint and somehow managed to sit 4th wheel into the first set of turns.

I don't know how those other guys were going so fast at the start, but I nearly threw up just trying to keep up the first incline with them. There was 3 guys up front, another rider 1 or so seconds back and then me behind him.

I busted my ass to hop up a spot and closed the gap in a downhill

section. We crossed the first bridge and hit the twisty section with some decent speed.

The big ass uphill was tough and I saw 2 of the guys infront of me slow, so I dug deep and pulled around them. I followed the leader through the downhill and passed him right before the uphill barriers.

I saw that I had a gap and buried my head to put in some time when I was able to. From there, I rode solo for 2 laps, with Henry Loud from Team Pegasus hot on my heels. Henry and I battled for a while, but my 2 lap solo stint started to kick in and he began to gap me. I relaxed a little because there was a big gap between me and the next guy...knowing that Henry was from IL eased my tension, because even if I didn't win I would still hold the state title.

I really did try to close the gap between Henry and myself, but it seemed that I could only hold a steady 5 seconds behind him. On the last lap, I concerned myself with the menacing train of guys looking to plow my ass down and take the state title from me. I distinctly remember Kevin Sparrow from that group yelling "buddy, we're coming to get ya!".

(photo by DJonny Mac)

That certainly kicked my ass into gear, I ripped up the last climb with an all out effort that

would either push me to win it, or push me over the edge and lose it. I rolled the dice and they fell in my favor. 2nd place is first loser, or in my case...WI State Champ.

We stuck around for the men's P/1/2 race to see TBrown and a few friends rip it up. Here are some great pictures of the race, beer handups and a few extras from my race. Also, check out my FLICKR if you want to see some more photos.

Tristan Schouten, Men's P/1/2 State Champ taking a dolla hand-up like a champSame here with Bill Street, right before he stuck this into his G-string. And yes, that is a dual-handup...ONE DOLLAR AND A BEER!

The Bandits at work.

Great action pic again by DJonnyMac

The faces of cyclocross

2009-11-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite memories from cyclocross. These gems are from the Gibbs Lake CX race. Photos courtesy of GEO.

Oh and by the way, that is the look of pain. It tastes bitter, thats why I look like that.

Here is a doozie.

This one is more attractive.

Aaaaaand my favorite.

Cheers.

Looking forward

2009-11-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

The off season is almost here, but it's really more of a prep-time for the coming season. I plan on doing an awful lot of riding in the "off season" but most of it will be riding to keep me sane. Hopefully soon, the 2010 calendar for road and mtb will be set up so I can build a training plan to structure my peaks and tapers.

Also, today I saw a picture of my buddy Bjorn Selander hanging out with Lance Armstrong. Bjorn and I raced together as juniors when we were 17-18 and had a pretty good season with our team. Within the next two years he had won the Junior cross national championship, was riding cross in europe and on the fast track in the cycling world. It is really funny to see him getting a bid for Team Radioshack next year and chilling with Lance and Taylor Phinney. Too bad that I didn't keep killing it after being a junior...I am not really sure if that is a lost opportunity for me, but i think this next year could bring good results and hopefully catch up on some of that "lost time" of not riding.

BIG PLANS for next year, so lets get cooking.

HALLOWEEN PSYCLOCROSS

2009-11-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

What up peeps. Cross this past weekend was good. I totally wussed out of wearing my sumo costume (which would have been awesome) in favor of not becoming a gigantic windsail. I decided to show my team TWINSIX kit in good spirits for halloween. Team Metal shorts paired with DOPERS SUCK jersey. Keepin' it classy.

Not really sure how exactly I placed. I saw 6th at the registration table, but online it said 8th. So lets call it 7th.

On with the photos. Thanks GEO for some great photos.

Coffin barriers can eat my bunny hops. White men can jump.

WARNING: MUD PIT

Getting Rad.

Even more rad.

Ridin dirty.

Insert typical cyclocross photo here.

Peace g's

Soho finally done!

2009-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

My winter bike is finally 99% ready for winter. It was a really slow and tedious build, partially because the frame was a one-off model and partially because I want to do stuff it wasn't made to do. Well in the end, I won. :-) I got the

front wheel to have a disc brake, 29x1.75 tire and room for full fenders! The rear end is single speed with a semi-slick cross tire and full coverage metal fenders.

Here is the list of problems that I ran into with this bike:

1. Drilled the rear dropouts - didn't have fender eyelets and just barely squeezed a nut and bold in without hitting the hub.

2. The tire bead of cross tires do not want to mount on 28mm wide MTB rims very easily.

3. KMC 1/2 link to get the gear and chain tensioned correctly

4. Front fork disc tab needed to be faced - came bent out of the box :-(

5. Couldn't run a rear disc brake - housing on all my existing brakes was too short without buying a new hose and bleeding the brakes.

6. Tire clearance was an extreme issue on the rear wheel. Super narrow chainstays suck for big tires.

7. Front fender had to be cut - wouldn't fit with big nobbies.

8. I lost a washer for the crankarm fixing bolt, so the non-drive crank was wobbly for about a week until I bought some new bolts.

9. Sliding dropouts didn't come with long enough adjusting screws - had to run to hardware store and search for some that work.

10. Fenders came with hardware BUT not screws. Seriously? WTF.

Through all the problems, the bike actually came together pretty nice and I am happy with how it finished up. I think that this will be a fun ride for winter and hopefully should prevent my other bikes from getting trashed from winter riding.

Some more pics from the build:

WHOOP WHOOP GO BY BIKE

2009-10-20T10:20:00.001-07:00

Riding your bike through the entire winter? You must be crazy.

2009-10-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Yep, I actually am. Years past I have ridden my bike commuting between and to classes, lots of short small rides. The kind of stuff that you can do just wearing jeans, but still be a little cold. That kind of in town riding is pretty fun and quite amusing because it doesn't take 30 minutes to get dressed, BUT you still get to ride.

I rode outside in years past to get some training miles in, but most of the riding was done indoors. Well, actually probably 90% of the riding was done indoors. This year should be different because: A) I bought a cross bike and B) I will be riding to and from work via bike through the entire winter.

Anyways, the point of this post was to show my super sweet new commuter. The frame is Jessie's old winter bike and is a pre-production form of the belt-drive Soho. Pretty cool, huh?

Lapham Peak CX

2009-10-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the Cat 3 race as usual, hoping to do well. Tried to shoot the hole out of the line, that didn't work though. I spend the first half lap chasing down 31 riders to make a good group by the end of the first lap. I got as far as 5th wheel, dismounted for the 2nd set of barriers and somehow managed to step on my valve stem and break it off. What a bummer. FLAT ON THE FIRST LAP TWO WEEKS IN A ROW!!! What bad luck.

I was shooting for the top 5 and really didn't feel like doing a wheel change and gaining all those spots back again so I dropped out. Not really an honorable thing to do, but I thought I could salvage a race result in the Cat 1/2/3 field.

I registered for the 1/2/3 race and re-pinned another number on. 20 minutes before the race I was trying to find a pump because my tires were too low, I feared that I would pinch flat again. I was not going to let that happen. I finally got a hold of a pump, but the riders were starting to line up in the shoot so I

had to hurry. Rushing back to the start line, I find my group and I start to unbuckle my helmet to take off my cycling cap. The gun goes off while I am doing this. Just my luck. I quickly scramble to get my bike going and buckle my helmet. Another crappy start. Sweet.

I don't know how many laps we did, I just remember being tired

already and seeing the official tell me that we had 5 laps to go...thats 10 miles. I finally get into a group and start to chase

the group in front of us. I pain-boxed for about 3.5 laps until I

started to feel good with 1.5 laps to go. I really kicked it into gear on the last lap because I lost

the group I was with and the next rider behind me was only about 10-20 seconds off my tail.

I finished 8th out of 15 riders. Not bad for a cat 3 in a 1/2/3 field. Well, truthfully, the field was missing some of the top dogs who were at the WORS race or just missed the cross race. Well, I'll take 8th to start off the year in the WI cross series.

Pain Box

2009-10-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hardcore pain-boxing from J. Paige's Planet Bike Cup

Photo creds: XMATIC and Peloton Pix

Planet Bike USGP

2009-10-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

September 26-27th brought some of the most eventful pro racing to the Madison area as the cyclocross season begins. This is my first season racing cross and had absolutely no idea what to expect besides a nagging painful feeling.

Saturday: Planet Bike Cup #1

I had received my cat 3 upgrade for cross from Heidi in an effort to not sandbag in the cat 4's, but I had not noticed that the race was the 2/3's. Only did I find out about this small detail until I pre-registered 3 days before the weekend. Great, my first cross race and I get to have my ass kicked by the cat 2's AND my number placed me 70th out of 75 racers in the starting shoot. The gun goes off and I get caught behind a crash before we even cross the starting line...I knew that this was going to be a long race. Lots of chasing put me in at a surprising 22nd overall in the cat 2/3 field. I felt surprised and excited about my finish.

Sunday: Planet Bike Cup #2

My plan for Sunday was to shoot the hole within the pack and chase as hard as I could until I gained some serious spots. I was well on my way to the front of the riders, but another rider crashed in front of me and caused me to flat my wheel. Luckily, the wheel pit was just around the corner and I was able to ride a super duper fast Zipp 404 for the rest of the race. Frustrated about losing all the hard-earned spots, I chased balls-out in an attempt to salvage some of my race. I finally was able to catch the back of the pack and started to gain some spots throughout the rest of 5 laps. After 45 minutes, I found myself crossing the finish line in 24th place after all my chasing and flat. I was pretty happy to place about the same two days in a row, mechanicals included. I am hoping that the rest of the season goes this well and I can be a cross butt-kicker in no time :)

Next up is the Lapham Peak CX race to follow.

Chequamegon

2009-09-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

(Skinnyski.com)

With my 1st Chequamegon 40 in the books, I can look back and say that I had a pretty good race. For not a ton of MTBing this year, I'll take 49th in the Men's race (54th including S.S. and tandem riders). Here's how the race went down:

Started in the 2nd row of the preferred starts, right next to all the Pro's. I brought my skinsuit, so I thought it was only fitting. I had a few people make fun of me for wearing one and stuffing the crap out of my only pocket with food, but Coach Dave says that skinsuits are "free speed". Who would argue with that?

The gun shoots off and we all scramble for positions even though it is a "neutral" roll out. The lead ATV pulls off the group and we increase speed, until we hit 28mph. About this time, I was maxed out in my 42x11. Matches were getting burned, but I was sitting in a great position.

After hitting Rosie's Field, we begin to form a group in single-file. Speed slows to a very welcome 22-23mph and my HR is still at my lactate threshold. After about 4 miles of the Berkie, I think to myself "Hey Bryan, you're feeling good right? Maybe we should think about attacking the field." Bad idea. Remember all the Pro's and Cat 1 MTBers that can whip your butt? I was humbled.

The group that I was for the first 25 or so miles was about 35 guys long. I remember people gasping at the group size as we pass the feed zone. I was pretty shocked at it's size and how we all stuck together. Somehow someone was pulling all our asses because nobody was able to get up front and push the pace any higher. At this point, you could only pass 1 or 2 people at a time because the wind speed and change of line slowed you down so much.

I think this was on the Birkie trail sometime before we hit the Firetower Hill. You can tell that because the pain face isn't so grimacing quite yet. (Skinnyski.com)

Around mile 27 I begin to pop and I see it coming from a mile away as I slow my speed and try to conserve for the last 1/3 of the race. I lose sight of Gehling sometime during a climb as my eyes are glued to my HR monitor trying to keep my legs from exploding. I ride solo for a while and try to chase back on, but I thankfully got caught by the group behind me. I rode with singlespeeders J.M. Lalonde and J. Curtes for a while until they blew me away by pulling out some crazy running skills up the Firetower.

Mile 31-34 were the toughest for me, I was physically and mentally exhausted from riding hard and trying to chase all morning. I finally got into a groove again near mile 34 when I ran across the bearded single-speed demon Ezra Taylor and David Meyer. Those guys pulled my ass for a few miles while I caught my breath, but my rear tire punctured going down a fast descent with 4 miles to go. At first I thought I was screwed, but after Stans pissed around everywhere for a minute or so I carefully continued to ride on the tire. It felt like I was running full suspension because so much air had leaked; I couldn't sit on my saddle when descending because the tire was bottoming out at every bump.

Riding it out over the last few miles really sucked because I had to ride really slow and got passed by a few riders coming off a group that was fast approaching. One of the riders that passed me was kind enough to let me know about this group and I decided to screw the flat thing and see if I could empty all the gas left in my tanks. I nearly got caught by this group, but managed to stay in front of them through the last tough descent; I nearly rolled my rear tire on the last tight left turn into the finishing straight.

I checked my tire after the race and it had somewhere near 10-12 psi for the last 4 miles. At least the Stans held, but it was quite a squishy ride. Overall, I was pretty happy with my finish for my first forty. I made a few mistakes during the ride, but I was smart enough to ride around other major mistakes and place well. I guess the preferred start was worth its weight for this year, otherwise I would have been hauling ass passing 1000+ riders on the trail.

Here is me running the Firetower. Yes it hurt, even for a roadie. (Skinnyski.com)

Oh yeah and a side note, I rode the 40 so hard that I broke my frame. Don’t worry G. Fisher is giving me the hook-up on a new frame, because getting rad is always in style.

Check the Team

Goodies from Trek World

2009-08-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Goodies from Trek World in photos. Welcome to my life.

National Crit Champs: Downers Grove, IL

2009-08-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Downers Grove, IL was a very busy town during August 15-16th as the city prepared for supportive fans and anxious racers competing for the National Criterium Championships. While many national champions

hips are rotating on an annual basis, Downers Grove, IL has been the home of the National Crit Champs for the past x years. This year, the

course was a twisty 8-turn 1.1 mile loop nestled in the heart of downtown Downers Grove. Although the course did not hold anything too technical for most racers, it proved to be a hard and fast race because of all the racers in top form fighting for the first wheel to cross the line with one lap to go.

My team, Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital, arrived early to scope out the course, get a good warm-up in and enjoy that last cup of coffee before the race. After picking up race numbers and discussing our team plan, we began to warm up and anticipate a solid race. With 10 minutes to race time, Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital took a lap to scout out the course for a final time, scoping out the roads for cracks and other hazards. As we roll up to the line, the announcer heckles Sarge (the Cat 3 overall winner of the Tour of America’s Dairyland), asking him what our team has in store for the day.

Just before the starting whistle blows, the announcer proudly tells the pack that the first lap is a prime. I think to myself, “oh boy, this is gonna be a long race”. After a few laps, things begin to settle in the pack and I become a little more comfortable with the course and the riders. The first 10-15 minutes was full of desperate and half-hearted attacks, all of which were brought back within the same lap. I wasn’t too worried about anything serious going off the front of the race, it was too large of a race and too many teams were willing to pull anything back in for a pack sprint. As far as some of the other races this year, I was unusually calm during these attacks having a sense of security knowing that my team was around me to help bring back any break that looked strong.

After watching the minutes count up for the first third of the race, the race went surprisingly quick and I found that we had less than 20 minutes until the final sprint. I began to pay much more attention to the other riders and trying to scope out who was planning on contending for the win. With two laps to go, Sarge and I positioned ourselves within the first 6 riders and worked hard to maintain our position within the top 10 riders. The final lap bell rang and the pack began to swallow up the road as we rounded the first corner. My legs burned from the acceleration and I felt as if the power was drained from them by all the anxiety of the race. The last 7 turns were a constant struggle to maintain a decent position for the sprint as the field behind us consistently swarmed around the front of the pack.

A very technical 8-turn course combined with 70 riders made for a very active last few laps; staying up front and upright was difficult enough. Joel Friedman (Aurora, IL) from Bicycle Heaven took a flyer down the big hill on the last lap and managed to hold off the field for the win, the rest of the bunch had to settle for 2nd.

Results for Team Wheaton Fransiscan Healthcare were: Dave “Sarge” Paquette in 6th, myself in 13th, Nick Fry in 27th, Garrett McAllister in 43rd and Addison Fowl in 50th. Overall, the boys worked hard and we didn’t get a win, but Team Wheaton Fransiscan Hospital will proudly call that an end to a successful road season.

Thanks T6 for the sweet socks. They made me super-duper fast.

Yep, I'm still posting blogs.

2009-07-30T16:13:00.001-07:00

For a while now, I have been battling my Sony Vaio for the last drops of life from the computer. I think that is a good reason to blame for no blog posts for a month. Right?

I can also blame moving a little. And maybe working a lot. Ok, I am done complaining.

Anyways, I am moving out of my old apartment on August 31st and I now have a new MacBook Pro. So things should start to be more frequent for you dedicated viewers, keep an eye open for some exciting posts as road season ends with Downer's Grove National Crit Champs, WORS season starts for me and Cyclocross season starts. I am pretty excited for beer hand-ups though.

I'll be staying at Geo's place for bit while I have some lag time between leases and I am pretty excited to hang out at his house for a while!

I love commuting to work

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

My commute in photos

ToAD Downer Ave Classic

2009-06-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Howdy all,

This year was my first time ever riding the Downer Ave race, but I have to say that I am very impressed by how well the race was put on by the Tour of America's Dairyland. There was of course bike racing, food and lots of beer. By far, this is probably one of the coolest Amateur/Pro race that I have been able to participate and race in. The crowds were supportive, fun and energetic...this type of event is what bike racers live for!

The crowd lining up for the Pro/1/2 ULTRA PRIME

As you can see, its just plain fun having a crowd that is large and excited to see bike racing. I was able to join in on the fun after having a good race; I got a Downer Ave Classic T shirt, all the brats I can eat and all the beer I could drink for $20. It was just so awesome to be there enjoying a beer after your race with friends and teammates watching the P/1/2 field suffer for 90 minutes.

So how did my race go?

Well, becuase it was my first time on the course I don't know if I was more excited or anxious about a new venue. First of all, we arrived only with 1 hour before my race, breaking the first rule of bike racing: ALWAYS HAVE MORE TIME THAN YOU WILL NEED!!! I quickly gathered up my racing gear, pinned up my skinsuit and went down to register. Already running on short time, I get down to the reg tent only to find out that they want me to pick up my earnings from the previous day. I told them that I didn't really want to stuff the checks in my one tiny pocket and race with them for 50 minutes, which I think was probably the best choice.

When I was looking at the race the day previous, I was scoping out the course and decided that the numbers would be pinned on the left side because every day previous had been. I was wrong. At the reg tent, they told me that I pinned up my number wrong as I frantically try to find someone to change it. I thankfully found the Team Wheaton Cat 3 Coach, Dave Eckel and he graciously helped me change my number...otherwise I would have had fun standing naked in the porta-john re-pinning my skinsuit. Yeah, that would have been fun...

After a quick warm up with teammates Jon Cook and DJ, we head down to the course. Soon enough, the gun goes off and our race begins. It was quite fun trying to figure out the course my first time around because I didn't have enough time to get a lap in to check out the road and corners. After about 5 or so laps, the course wasn't so bad and the pain fest begins. The course was flat, full of twisty and technical turns, but proved somehow to keep the pace high enough for everyone to hurt. The entire time, the pack was strung out 1 or 2 men across, but it felt as if everyone was doing the same amount of work. There was a few primes announced during the

race and I tried for 1 or 2 of them, but only half-committed and ended up 2nd and 3rd a few times coming across the line. I didn't recieve any merits for my work, but it provided a good enough warm up for the final sprint AND showed me who was really contending in the all out effort at the end of the race.

I look down at my HR and I am not through the roof, but am working hard enough as I see 12 minutes to go. I make a mental note to stay up near the front, but not to work to hard until about 5-7 minutes to the finish. The field was very strung out for the last few laps as my teammate David "Sarge" Paquette drives the pace hard to keep attacks curbed and to pull the last few efforts out of my competetors. Sarge unfortunately flatted with 1.5 laps to go, but really helped keep me on the front of the pack and set up a fast sprint finish.

I made sure to sit at wheel 4 or 5 leading into the last few corners as I was eying up the major players. Mark Howe from Team Geargrinder led us into the last corner and as he does in typical fashion, wound up and provided a lead out for the guys on the front. I was so spun out that I was probably spinning 140 rpm sitting down out of the last corner and it took me a while to finally find a good gear that I can sprint in. I got boxed in with ~200m to go from my left and right and as I finally get out of my saddle to sprint, the racer to my right and myself bump hands 5 or so times while sprinting. I don't know if you have ever done this and at the time it didn't phase me, but both of us were very close to locking handlebars and eating asphalt while getting run over by 60+ exhausted and sprinting racers. It is a very scary feeling looking back. I was really nervous sitting up in the top 4 wheels in the sprint, wondering who was going to take the win when I really should have been thinking of how to sprint past them for the win. I was barely edged out by the racer next to me to get 4th place overall, and I really wanted to podium but you can't have it all the time. I did well at Downer Ave, but some huge congrats goes out to my teammate Sarge who had the overall ToAD Cat 3 GC on lock down, he really earned every bit of his overall win.

This year is my 5th season as a cat 3 and I continue to learn from every race, which is really exciting because the sport of cycling has so much to offer. It was fun learning this year that my sprint really came together and that I have the legs after a 50 minute race to contend with the

best of racers. I have to send out a HUGE thanks for our presenting sponsor Wheaton Fransican Hospital, MC2, Verizon Wireless, Safway and Ben's Cycle for making our races possible and to all of my teammates that helped me contend for the win. This race is definately one of my favorite from the year and I look forward to being able to race it again.

ToAD Waukesha race report to come soon...

Some pics for those who like em. Also, a few more here

ToAD Sheboygan Crit

2009-06-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to some of the pictures from the P/1/2 race from Sheboygan. Tough race for everyone, the course was open and had two looong legs that seemed to keep everyone together. I didn't finish great, but Team Wheaton was working really well together. I think we finally are starting to really jive to the same note!!!

The race was a tough one, Team Wheaton took charge of the field by covering attacks from the very start. We were working really hard to get one of our Wheaton guys off the front or to set him up for a sprint. You should have heard the announcer, because he sounded like he is a big fan of our team and commented on our great team work and strategy! We had a lead out train planned for the last 5 or so laps, and got our guys organized up front to keep the pace high and try to curb any attacks.

With 4 laps to go, a stong racer from Melon City, IA attacked and Team Wheaton worked hard to bring him back in and keep it a pack sprint. With 1.5 laps to go, we finally reeled him in, but had exhausted our guys pulling him back. Just as we crossed the line for 1 lap to go, I was next in rotation and pulled hard through the last lap. Just as were about to round the 3rd corner the field swallowed me up and the race turned into an all out pack sprint. I placed in the back because of my effort but we placed Garrett McAllister in 8th for the day. Not bad for a tough course.

More race reports to follow...

NEW TOY!!!

2009-06-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

I picked up this new toy on the 22nd, its a brand new 2008 Gary Fisher Ferrous 29" MTB. Here is it in all it's glory! Yes, I have two light blue 29" bikes. Deal with it.
Soon after I got my hands on it, it looked pretty bare.
After about 10 minutes, I got it looking like this.
Frame completly stripped down. Soon to be a rigid 29" single speed. I don't have need for two 29" geared MTBs...yet.

Night riding

2009-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I did some night riding a week or so ago but I took some pics of my excursion. I finally gave up because I was scared. Later I found out that some dude killed someone there a few years back at night. Yeah, I don't think that I'll be going back there at night...

This is my steed all lit up. I should have been wearing a Twin Six Light it up T

At the trail head for Hoyt Park. I just got in before the park closed.

There is some awesome night riding there although the trails were soaking my shoes by the time I left...

More pictures of what my view was.

At Lake Mendota on the Lake Shore path on the way back. Just got in before it started to storm.

Lots of fun that night, I'll have to go out again soon!

Good morning

2009-06-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Howdy,

Its been a while since I've had a blog that I've actually been posting on, so I figured that it was time to do my fair part of clogging the internet with stupid information...well, atleast there will be a lot of cool pictures.