Thoughts during Berryman Trail Epic 2009

This blog will be the thoughts and musings while riding 56 miles on a mountain bike for the BT Epic. Musings is a funny word. Jay Wright picked me up at my house in is Jeep Cherokee and with his his sweet mtb and my retro mtb on his new sweet Yakima roof racks looking pro, we rolled on down past Steeleville, MO to Bass River Resort. This place is like an oasis in the middle of the Ozark National Forest. New and nice cabins, great people. This race is extremely well organized. Food on the grill and beer on tap when we got there. With thoughts of camping in a tent or Jay sleeping in the back of his Jeep, we ended up sharing a cabin with Brian Busken, Doug Busken, Jason Pryor, Keith Weinkein, Jay and myself. 6 beds for 6 dudes. Keith and Jason made a huge pot of pasta and meat sauce - delicious. Now it was lights out before 11pm and then 6 guys snoring, waking up in the night, nervous thoughts running through our heads so none of us slept for crap. Next event it's Tylenol PM so it's lights out for good (great idea Doug).

All right - the above was the boring setup to the real adventure. Here are the thoughts racing through my skull during the 10 hours from waking to finishing:

6:30am - "Hell this is early. I'm not hungry but I'm eating everything in sight."
8:20am - "People from southern Missouri talk funny. Guess they're from Missoura. It's freezing I hope I'm gonna warm up when riding soon."

8:30am, mile 0 - "Let's rip. I'm feeling good. Go at my own pace but race."
Mile 1 - "This is a Mike Schneider setup - a trailer parked across the deep creek crossing so we can all walk across. Is it cool that those two girls are going to cut in line in front of 75 guys? You bet your ass it's ok; there are less than 10 girls total here and 145 guys. This Schlafly jersey is pimp."

Mile 5 - "Feeling good on this hill climb, passing some suckers, nice... Still on gravel but have been climbing forever and I'm definitely warm now. Is there really an Ozark Mountain? Well we must be nearing the top. Jason, Jay, Keith are sissy's for wearing so much clothing. It's not that cold. The backside downhill is gonna be so fun."
Mile 11 - "Good call skipping past that 1st water stop. I've only drank 16 oz and have 24 more to last until the next stop at mile 20.5. "
Mile 13 - "Shit that hurt, no blood, bike is OK except my chain is off and my brake lever is flopping around. This jump-stop chain anti-derailleur is a POS. Stay focused and no more falls. Let's catch that 16 year old kid who just passed me."

Mile 15 - "Damn chain fell of again."
Mile 18 - "Where's my other water bottle. Uh, oh must have fallen off in the crash. My legs are cramping a little. Spin up the hills and don't cramp the quads."
Mile 19 - "Damn chain fell of again. This sucks."
Mile 20 - "I hear Jim ringing the bell - gotta be close to the 1st stop. I see people: time to fix the chain thingy, eat and drink up." 40 oz of water at this stop, loaded up with 40 more oz, ate one PB&J sandwich and a Clif Bar. Got stung by a wasp, fixed the chain anti-derailleur thing; now let's rip." I heard that the next 17 miles until I got back here at mile 37 were road, gravel and some single track. They don't know...
Mile 25 - "Just did 2 lap distance at Lost Valley. 2 1/2 more and I'm finished - cramps are gone keep going. FN chain off again. I'm getting so good at fixing it I'm the Nascar pit crew of chain fixing."
Mile 28 - "It's really muddy and now I'm riding uphill on a trail that is a river of water coming down at me. Looks like I'm going 15 mph because the water is rushing down at 7 mph and I'm going up at 8 mph. Kinda cool except the trees around me are barely moving. Kinda weird too."
Mile 32 - "I haven't seen another person forever. It's really quiet in the woods and I haven't seen a single sign of wildlife - no squirrels, no deer, no birds, where am I The bright yellow maple leaves that fall on the forest floor are really shiny. Maybe I'm loosing my mind."
Mile 34 - "FN chain off again. My bike hates me."
Mile 35 - "FN chain again. I'm selling my MTB and road bike on craigslist - I hate bikes."
Mile 36 - "Sweet Jesus that's an awesome downhill. I love cycling! Even passed 4-5 people."
Mile 37 - "Slide into this last stop and start drinking. Think I stopped to long, half the people I passed are back out already. Can't believe I have 19 miles to go. Goal is to finish."
Mile 40 - "Passed a few - cool. That one dude was sitting down on the side of the trail. Hope he finishes. FN chain again. Got passed back by a few."
Mile 45 - "Taking turns pulling with a nice guy named Chris who works at Mesa Cycles is good. At least I have someone to talk to. Only bad thing is my 1x9 doesn't go up hills slow enough. Lot's of people spinning really slow at this point and I have to pass with my taller gears. Well start passing without bonking."
Mile 50 - "I'm out of water. It's raining like crazy. I'm freezing - Jason, Keith and Jay are smart for wearing warm gear. It's official, I'm selling the bikes: I hate cycling."
Mile 51 - "Another sweet downhill single track. I love mtb'ing again. Sure was nice of Mary Piper to send a good luck email on Friday. Lindsey sent a good luck note on Facebook. Does anyone write anymore - I can barely spell anymore. This downhill is to long now, my arms are tired of steering and braking: please go back to a flat section. It's flat now and mud is deep...again.

Mile 52 - "Passed a girl who was kinda hot and some dude. I can't let this girl beat me. FN chain again. Got passed (again). This time by That Girl. FN chain again. Yes again. She's not that hot."
Mile 53 - "Will I admit that I was 1x9 granny gear on this gravel road? Admit it or not I am in granny and I'm tired, thirsty and running on fumes. You're not gonna catch That Girl so time to eat the second sandwich. That was the best PB&J sandwich I've ever eaten. Thanks Buffy. You make the best sandwiches with the bread aligned correctly and are way hotter than That Girl."
Mile 55.5 - "I can see the end. I don't feel that bad but I look like shit. Cruising through the last river crossing at shin deep at least washed a bunch of nasty off my legs and bike."
Mile 56 - "Success is sweet."

After a quick shower, terrible double vegi burger that I tried to spice up by inserting a hot dog inside between two pieces of wonder bread, Jay and I headed home. My legs are still sore as I'm writing this 3 days later. I finished near the back at 8 hours, 6 minutes and 53 seconds. That's a long time to be sitting on a small piece of bike seat. Next year my goal is under 7 hours. Off to find a better way of keeping my chain on. I stopped counting chain jumps after 13. I got so good at fixing the chain I could stop, flip the bike, fix the chain, spin the crank and get back on in less than 90 seconds assuming it didn't get wedged in badly.

Now the goal is to try and maintain plus tweek my current level of fitness through Halloween, Turkey Day, Christmas and Winter and come out in the Spring at a higher level. Mixing more miles, the gym and higher intensity sessions will all help.

Burnin at the Bluffs

This has been a goal of mine for a very long time. A 12 hour race with teams consisting of 3 members. I was to ride with two other guys from Momentum Racing. We had high hopes of finishing the race in good standings, but as time would determine, it wasnt the case. I was unable to get down to Council Bluffs on friday so I left at 4am on Saturday. I arrived just as team Natural Mystics were waking up, Jason Pryor, Keith Weinkein both members of Schlafly. They cooked a small pancake breakfast and we decided our running order. I was scheduled to go third, Chris was second and Caleb, the fastest, was to start it off. Well my first lap was beginning to look like a good one. I was attacking all the tough hills and the very deep creek crossings. 4 inches of rain two days pryor and more rain the day before made for some wet sections and deep cold water crossings. Well I was on about mile 8and began the nasty rock garden section. I almost made it through the entire thing but at the last minute I heard air gushing out of my rear tire. Damn it!!! I had a small hole squirting out sealant. I tried to let the sealant do its job sitting there with my finger on it. It sealed it up and i shot some co2 in and it blew it out. I decided to take my wheel off and throw a tube in. I was back on my bike in about 10 minutes total. My attitude sort of sucked by this time, bummed out about the flat. I had to pass about 10 people that passed me while changing my tire. Then about mile 13-14 was the finish line. Lap one in 1:33. Not what i was hoping for seeing that the other two came in at 1:23 and 1:27. The second lap went better, no mechanicals or flats, just tired legs. There are two very long climbs on the course and I couldnt bring it to myself to push hard. I spun easily and made it to the top. I rode this lap a lot better but could have pushed a lot harder. My back was cramping up quite a bit and it was hard to push through. I ended up with a second lap of 1:26. much better. I came to the finish line and didnt see Caleb getting ready to leave or Chris waiting either. Finally they came up to me in street clothes and asked if I wanted to continue. I knew Caleb was worn out, Chris wiped out twice and hurt his wrist pretty good, and my back was messed up. I said it was up to them and they said it was time to start drinking. That was sort of the answer I was looking for. We were in 5th out of 12 at the time and was beating natural mystics. We had a fast team, just beat up.

This was by far the best mountain bike race I have been a part of yet. A ton of people and a great atmosphere! Everyone was having a blast. I hope to be a part of it next year again.

Now I am in training for the Berryman Epic 55 mile endurance race on Oct 25. I will post a blog after the race. Last race of the year!

Jay

Greensfelder Race

Well it has been a while since the race. My computer is down and using Nikki's laptop.

This was an interesting race. There were only 5 people lined up at the starting line in my age group and the usuals were not there. So I had no idea what to expect from any of the other racers. One guy seemed to be very nervous and anxious. Nathan and his group took off and it was now our turn. The race started and one guy took off very fast out of the gate. I couldnt see him anymore about a mile into the race. I figured he was either in the wrong category, or he would burn out like I have seen many others in the past. Well I was right....About 2 miles into the race I started to see him. There was a gradual hill climb and I saw him struggling. I knew he was nothin to worry about now. I passed him at a very high rate of speed. Now i realized I was in first place and had no one in sight. This was only mile 3 or 4 when i pulled ahead this far. I came through the start finish line in less than 18 minutes and knew this was going to be my race. I put it in cruise control for the entire race, never having to push myself. I did see nathan in the woods and told him i was coming to get him knowing he had at least a minute head start. But he was pushing hard battling with another guy in his class, and I was just cruising trying to finish the race without a flat or mechanical issue. I cruised through the finish line in first place!!! My first victory this year. But I wish I could have beaten all the regulars, and not had such an easy race.
Jay

Greensfelder race

Well I raced in my second mountain bike race last week and was just as nervous as the first one. To make matters worse Jay and I got there about 3 hours to early so I had plenty of time to think about the race. We warmed up by completing a lap about 9:30 or so and felt pretty good. I just purchased new pedals for my mountain bike and opted on using my road shoes instead of spending more money for mountain bike shoes. Well I know now that they are worth the money.We had prerode the course that sat before and I felt like I had a pretty good feel on how I would do. There was a nice climb about 2/3 of they through the course and I though that is were I was going to make up time. It ended up being my nemesis. There was four riders in my group, 3 of were of age and some 40 year old that snuck into are group. He of course had the lead for a lap in a half until I finally caught him and passed by with a little effort. All day long I had been having problems with my new pedals and finding the cleat on my shoe, on top of my bike being a little out of tune. So needles to say that I was a little frustrated with both problems, but in a little better mood when I took first. It lasted 2 laps and I put it on cruise control thinking that nobody could catch me until I slipped up trying to pass someone and 2nd place passed me. I gathered my composure and caught him quick on the hill 2/3 of the way through and passed him leading into the final lap. I put some distance on him and decided that I needed a drink before the big climb and that was my fatal blow. I took a quick swig and forgot about the little creek crossing and before I knew it I was jumping the creek with one hand on my bars and the other holding Jay's water bottle that I though I could not drop. Well I don't know if you have ever tried it before, but don't.... it doesn't work. I crashed hard bending my handlebars and twisting my seat around.... and dropping Jay's water bottle. It took about twenty seconds to collect my thoughts, gather my things and set my bike straight. Just enough time for 2nd place to pass me. I followed him up the hill and regained the lead with a quarter of a mile to go. We came to a small single track about 600 yards long and I ran into slower traffic.... reference picture below, which gave my opponent time to dissolve my lead. We hit the last pavement stretch with about 70 feet remaining and he pulled along side of me and crossed .01 seconds in front of me. I lost the race. It was an awesome finish and I had never pushed myself so hard. I crossed the finish line, saw Mary standing there getting ready for her race and I laid my bike over next to her and collapsed. I was completely gassed, bleeding... check picture below!!....., and disappointed I had given the race away. Thanks to my teammate, as she cleaned me up.... that would have been Mary.... and told me it was a great finish. I learned alot from that race.... mostly, drop the water bottle, no matter who's it is, and never give up in a race. You never know whats going to happen!!

The Newest Schlafly Team Member!

She will have to wait 20 years 364 days until she can enjoy the sweet, yummy Schlafly goodness! Legally...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

MS 150

This years MS 150 was a blast. Schlafly had 4 members attending the event and we had a good time. All four of us traveled to Columbia on Fri. evening, set up camp, and went out to eat. It was a little dead Fri night and we needed to rest so we called it an early night and climbed into are tents. There is normally plenty of room in my tent for plenty of people, but for some reason brad decided to put all of are bikes inside the tent and cramp are living quarters. It worked out great though because Lindsey and I were on one side and Jay and Brad shared a twin mattress on the other side of the bikes. Lindsey and I never heard any commotion through are "bike" wall, but you could feel the love in the air..... if I may say. Anyway we all awoke in the morning and started with a pancake breakfast and off we went. All 4 of us had decided that day before to tackle the 100 mile route and so we did. It was a beautiful day for it and the first century for 3 of are riders. I think that a couple of us could have gone further because they decided to SPRINT the last mile. O.K. it was like 300 yards but the intentions were there. We hung out in the company tent area for awhile as we refueled with some schlafly beer that was donated to the whole foods group. They are all a bunch of tree huggin, stick eatin, hippies..... but they are cool. My cousin just had to be one of them. We packed up are tent and headed to are hotel for a good nights rest and a hot shower around dark and you could tell that we were all about dead. The morning came to fast and before you knew it we were back at the fairgrounds unloading are bikes for day 2. Jay had a very important " YOU BETTER NOT BE LATE OR I WILL KILL YOU" appointment to make, so he only did the 40 mile route. Lindsey choose the 75 mile route and took it easy as Brad and myself brought on the pain with another 100 mile day. Brad did awesome all day long, for the day before was his first ever century, not to mention that his longest ride prior was 75 miles or so. So to be able to go back to back centuries was a great accomplishment. I had eaten something at lunch around are 70 mile marker and somehow got a boost of energy, so without warning, I climbed a hill and forgot to wait for Brad. Alright I didn't forget, but I really wanted to go and see what I could do the last 30 miles. If it was anyone else, I don't think that I could have gotten away with it, but he is such a nice guy, that I knew he wouldn't yell at me!! I cranked them out as fast as I could push and ended up averaging 19.4 mph at the end of day 2. That was my personal best compared to my previous 18.9 from the day before and a prior century this year and 1.5 mph gain from the last years Ms 150. So needless to say I was very happy with the outcome and can't wait to do it next year. I guess that we have to clear it with Schlafly first, but next year we are going to reserve a spot for a corporate tent and Its going to be awesome. It is a year away but you can never start planning to early. We need a good showing of volunteers and riders to man are tent and show are pride for are sponsor so any ideas will be accepted. For are first year there in 2010 we need to be the best! Jay, Brad, Lindsey, and myself saw what other tents have to offer and we know that the Schlafly tent will be the place to be!!

ICCC Castlewood MTB Race

Finally, my kind of race! After what seems like a lot of racing on non-technical single track this summer, I had the opportunity to repeat a good showing of 2nd place at last month's Castlewood Challenge with another race in the style I prefer. That means climbing, rocks & roots, and some flowy singletrack for rest thrown in for good measure. My concern with racing the Blue Ribbon trail is that I rarely trek back there on my occasional Castlewood visits because you technically have to "trespass" through some highly eroded trail owned by the railroad to access it these days. Because of that, the race was staged from a trail about 10 minutes or so away from the park. Parking was a bit of an issue, but I shared a ride & Rich & the gang even had trucks to haul your stuff to the staging area from the remote parking that was available. After registering, Tom and I explored the flats for a bit to see what that was like. Interesting terrain - not really all that flat, but fast & flowy with some berms, short, steep hills & turns to keep you honest. I knew what awaited after the tunnel from my pre-ride a few weeks back - some nice hill climbing and more technical than the previous few races have been for sure. My pre-ride had not been very clean, so I was a little concerned. After I headed back to the start, I saw my youthful competitors, Ashley & Gabrielle, along with Celeste, a rider who is thankfully older than me, so chatted with them for a bit. Gabrielle had hurt herself on one of the downhill drops last week, so she was concerned as well. Ashley is with the KC gang, and as we were chatting, the KC guys road up to tell Ashley that after the tunnels, things were dicey. I assured her it wasn't that bad, but I could see the doubt. Ashley is the points leader in women's sport & has the top spot locked up for the points series, but she likes to win and is a super nice, but tenacious, competitor. When race line-up was called, I felt unusually calm considering the level of difficulty for this race. My thought was just to go out hard & ride my best & show the the out of town girls, Ashley & Celeste, what home-field advantage is all about. And much to my surprise, I was quickly out in front & stayed there. Gabrielle was right behind me through the start, but when we reached the hills, I expanded my lead. But...on the "flats" Gabrielle was able to get right on my tail again. I had one mechanical on the first lap that slowed me a bit - lost my chain once, but didn't let that affect me mentally & just fixed it & forgot it. First lap down, I was in the lead by a slim 3 seconds. Now, I figured out something. I race so much better in the lead than trying to play catch up! This was my kind of race, but dang-it, I was pretty sure I could not sustain the pace for 3 laps, and I knew that there were way too many flats that Gabrielle could catch me on, so I had to push myself. Second lap was the same story as the first - could pull away on the tough stuff, but Gabrielle was right on me on the flats. Had one issue on the 2nd lap - big stick got caught in my spokes & rode the first big hill hearing the sound of that stick rattling my spokes the whole way. I wanted to wait until the mandatory dismount on a sketchy section that was required by the park, so was glad to make it all the way there without that stupid stick giving me too much trouble. Crossed the line with a 4 second lead on lap 2. Now. Get this. I'm breathing hard for over an hour & those hills were long & I had worked a double shift on Friday and teaching a ding-dang group strength class in the mix, so the 3rd lap was worrying me with my sore legs and fatigue from work on Friday. Gabrielle and I jockeyed back & forth briefly, but when we hit the hills, she had to dismount & I made it up to the top. However, I know I had slowed down on this lap a bit more because I was noticing things I had not on the first two laps, like a bridge that we had to cross. I could not remember crossing a bridge & thought briefly I was lost, but kept on going and just figured I was too much in the zone on the other laps to notice. I lost my chain again on the third lap, and that was what allowed Gabrielle to catch me. She was right on my tail again & finally passed my on the flats before the finish. She was just ahead of me when we crossed the finish line. I definitely made Gabrielle suffer for that win - she put it all out there on the line. I could not push the sprint through the last grassy section and I lost by 8 seconds. My plan worked in that the home girls took it to the out of towners. We smoked them, but I lost the best race of my life. No mechanicals would have made the difference, but my attitude was excellent and I beat the mental demons of letting little things like chains and sticks bother you during a race. It was awesome!

MS150 day - Century day for all!

100 miles in the book for 4 of the Schlafly members at the MS150!!!!!!! Ouur jerseys were a huge success, probably could have sold at least 15 or so. More details and pics to follow, to damn tired to write tonight. Sleep then more riding in the morning.

Leadville Colorado

Nathan and I left for Leadville Colorado on Tuesday September 1st and arrived Wednesday morning around 6:15 am St. Louis time. We ended up taking a nice little nap and decided to start our trip by taking a nice ride on the Mineral Belt Trail. We took our road bikes for a nice 12.71-mile ride. Nathan seemed to do very well with the elevation, but me on the other hand not so much. I was dying! The view was awesome. We saw quite a few old mines and some mines that are still in use today. On September 3rd, we took our Mountain Bikes to Twin Lakes. Remember this is my third time actually mountain biking. We started the ride on the wrong route. The directions that they have aren’t the greatest. So we head down this “faint single track trail” that we were looking for and well lets just say it was not a single-track trail. It was a loose gravel road and that’s where Nathan had his first “fall”. So after riding a little further we decided that we didn’t think this was the right trail we were looking for. So we turned around and headed back to the road. We found another single-track trail hoping this was the one that they meant. In the end it wasn’t but managed to meet up with the one we needed and were able to start following the directions that we received. We followed the non-wooded single-track trail halfway around the lake. It was nice for me to try and get used to. We finally hit some wooded trails and I actually enjoyed mountain biking!! There were a few big hills that did me in, but I never had to get off my bike! The view was unbelievable! We came to this old village called Inter-Laken. They are trying to redo this little village so people can use it for Weddings or actually stay overnight in this house they are fixing up. While we were taking alittle rest at this village we could see some storm clouds filling in! So we decided to get going. There were a few creeks for us to go through. One or two of them were a little deeper than we thought! Once we went through these creeks we hit the more “technical” part of the ride. We weren’t sure what they meant by “technical” but boy oh boy did they mean TECHNICAL! I of course had lots of trouble. I think I ended up walking my back the last 4 of the 5 miles that we had left. I did end up hitting a rock making my front tire basically stop, which then caused me to go over my handlebars. Since I wasn’t clipped in I didn’t really fall on my face. I was able to catch myself. I did get a little bruise on my thigh and the pedal did jab my knee giving myself a little scrap. My bike on the other hand tumbled down the hill. When I got to my bike, I started to get on it and realized that my brakes were facing towards me. I walked my bike over to Nathan telling him that we had a HUGE issue! I was thinking that I was going to have to walk the whole way back (which in the end I did because it was so difficult.) He looked at me and took my bike and was like what happened. Then he took my bike and turned my handlebars 180 degrees. Yea I looked like an idiot! Sure gave us something to laugh about especially since Nathan wasn’t having such a great time with his bike either. He ended up with a lot more scrapes and bruises than I did. Let’s just say he was not a happy camper! In the end we had no more pictures of this ride. I am sure Nathan will tell you all about it!

On Friday we decided to climb Mount Elbert. Mount Elbert has an elevation of 14,433 feet. We started our hike around 7:15 AM. It took us 4 hours to make it to the summit. We met quite a few people on our way up and met some wildlife that followed us to the tree lines. I will post some pictures of our bird friends. We stayed up on the summit for about 30 minutes. About 200 yards from the summit we started seeing some storm clouds start to delvelop. They say that when you see clouds forming turn around and head back down the mountain. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! We are 200 yards from the top. So Nathan and I finished the hike up there. Boy I was beat when we finally got up there. But it was beautiful. I don't think our pictures gives it justice. Just so beautiful. Those storm clouds ended up giving us some lovely snow at the top of the mountain. CRAZY! Considering we started off in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. We didn't really pack accordingly for snow so I was freezing! Then on our way back down from the summit we heard some thunder!!! YIKES! Good thing we were on our way down. At about the time we got to the tree line it started raining on us. It ended up taking us half the time to get down the mountain then it did to get up. So we ended up being gone for about 6.5 hours and walked 9.5 miles! What a huge accomplishment HIKING UP MOUNT ELBERT!!!!

Then on Saturday we rode about 15 miles in Salida on our mountain bikes. Let's just say Lindsey's legs could not function. So that bike ride pretty much sucked for me. Overall we had a wonderful trip to Leadville. Maybe next year some of the Schlafley team members will come with us!

NEXT STOP COLUMBIA!!!! MS15O HERE WE COME!!!!

40 Down!!!!!!!!!!!!

The last time that I posted on the blog, I had just set a new personal best of 31 miles. Well since that time I have broken that personal best 3 times. I took it from 31 miles to 32.5 miles, then to 33.5 miles. Well I was growing tired of just jumping up by a mile at a time. So I decided that I was going to do 40 miles even if it killed me! So I set out from my parents house in Lake St. Louis, and planned on riding down towards New Melle. I had ridden there one other time with Jeff, and I really liked the route. It was probably the warmest day that we had in the last 2 weeks. I thought that I had enough water on board, but I would find out 32 miles in that I was one bottle short. At that point I was 8 miles from home, when my legs started to cramp! I had two choices at that time. I could have called my wife and had her come pick me up. Or I could try to stretch it out and keep going. I picked option two, I was not going to give up!! So I stretched my legs for about 5min, and got back on my bike and started heading for home. I went about another 2 miles, and my leg started to cramp again. So I got off and stretch some more, and hopped on and continued on my way. Most of the rest of the trip was downhill, except for a few minor hills. About 1.5 miles away from home there was the first of two small hills that I had to climb to make it back to my parents. When I got about 3/4 of the way up that little hill, my left leg cramped up so bad that it would not move. I was at least able to make it up the hill to a parking lot were I got off and rested for about 10 minutes. I was not going to give up, so I stretched like crazy, and was able to get it worked out. I only had 1.5 miles left so I jumped on and was determined to make it home even if I had to stop 20 more times. The only other stop I had to make was a red light. I had made it home! The rest of the day I spent drinking water and stretching my legs. I must admit though that night I had several celebratory Summer Lagers! There is nothing better then a nice cold Schlafly after you accomplish a goal!!

Tour of Missouri pics. and Ms 150 weekend

Team ASTANA

It is almost here now. The MS 150 in columbia MO. Great ride and I hope that the weather will stay nice. This will be Brad and Jay's first century, possibley back to back centuries. I think that Lindsey is also going to try one of the days, so lets cheer her on. Its a great time and hopefully the weather stays nice for us. I went down to the Tour of Missouri on Mon for the circui race. Very cool. Everyone should try to make it to a stage to show your support, or they may not come back. There was a large crowd downtown and it seemed like every turn of the course was packed with people. Well wish myself, Lindsey, Jay, and Brad good luck and weather this weekend. Also good luck to Mary in her MTB race!