Champlin-Minneapolis-Marine-Champlin

Great ride today with high school friends and a couple of the Northwest Geeks. Steve D. continues to impress as did my friends, Bob T. and Scott S., who commute and were very strong. Mike B. is working too much but is still very strong. He always is. Beautiful ride and fun with a ton of variety. Minneapolis and St. Paul were just waking up and the Stillwater Marine area is always great! 95 miles on my mountain bike.

I am riding my MTB this week in Colorado. I am looking forward to doing Fall River Road, a dirt road mountain pass in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Oh, and I love centuries. I love being there for when people get their first century. It changes the way a person relates to riding. I have been there for Garret, Jake, Blake, Brett, Adam, Jake C., John, Jeff, Larry, Dave, Belinda, Scott, Bob, and I am sure I am missing some others. It is great to be there when people accomplish this mark! Was I there for yours Bill? I don't think that I was. Wait... I was there for Bill's and Mike, Scott, and Jason's too! Who else? I know that I am missing some. Craig? Yes Craig too but that was mostly Belinda's doing. Way to go Bob and Scott!

Any way you slice it...

It comes up peanuts. The Tour is great dope and all! What a time trial and what a Tour. Heck, the doping even made it interesting. If you are stupid enough to do it or lie about it you're out. New life to those who are better at beating the system. Like Horner said, the Tour is life. I would add, crooks and all!

Elm Creek x 3

John R. and I rode in the rain last night and it was actually very nice. Elm Creek is deceiving. You go for a ride in the park and you come out completely shot. We were not hammering at all, just a steady pace and great conversation, but the roll to that park is so consistent. It is the best hill workout around. Elk River has it beat for steady climbing but for rolling hills and just a consistent grind, man Elm Creek is tough. My legs are shot this morning.

Good Night!

Say good night to the Tour at least for this year. Be your own hero, go post a time at the DIYTT and try to beat it! But don't use drugs to do it.

You Say Tomato

I don't get it...

Last night our ride leader calls for an easy ride in the heat, what do we get? The fastest ride of the year. And here is the thing, the people pushing didn’t win the race. We have a finish line to our rides and you would think the one that continued to tear the group apart all night would win the race part... not! In fact the catalyst wasn’t even in the finish. Melissa won the thing. First time with the group and she takes it. Cool! As I have said before, women rule!

Monologue from Hell on Wheels- TT

For me suffering has two meanings. Suffering can be negative. If you try to suffer for its own sake, that’s bad. That’s unhealthy. There’s something wrong in your head. But when you talk about suffering that you must get through and that you can survive through enormous effort, that is something else. That is positive, good and beautiful. Beautiful because you think of courage, of stamina , loyalty, the willingness to make sacrifices, modesty and love. From this perspective, the suffering during training, during sporting competitions, while doing one’s job, which all require great effort, is the same as religious suffering. It is love. It is beautiful. I like that.

Time Trialed the Fletcher Course this morning and tied my best time from last year. I have more I think. I had a full bottle on the bike and I think if I do it on a day when there is a group I will go faster. (23.57)

Delightful- Women Rule!

Rode a wonderful 100 miles today with a delightful group of people. Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable ride. The first 35 was the 144 and we had about 12 riders for that portion. It was a beautiful morning and Dave Hoglund kept us at an honest pace. At this point about half of the field was women. I am so excited for my daughter! The future is very bright!

The second stage was down to Dunn Brother's where I noted that Jeff has come a long way in his riding. Just another example of someone gaining great fitness in our group and having a great time doing it. The iced coffee was great and we checked in on the tour.

For stage three out to Baker Park and back home, Evan and Jason, of UJVFC fame, joined us. It was a nice ride until Jason peeled off and noted that our average speed was pretty low. This was a dirty trick because everyone knows that a triathlete can not deal with hearing that so our pace went up about 4 MPH. Nuts, I guess it was good.

That was it except for this... I asked Evan what was required to race Headwaters, where we have our year end party and ride, and he said, "You have to be able to ride 100 miles." Thank you Evan. Now you can also tour it for 30, 60 or 100 miles and hope our whole group makes it up there! The bit that bothers me is that some people want to race it and other riders told them they should reconsider... the riders that want to do it also have a plan for riding it together. How cool is that? I mean who in their right mind would tell someone not to do that? There are people who give energy and those who suck it up. Headwaters is a great place for ANYONE to try out racing, especially if you are doing it with friends! Go for it and join us for a TON of fun. It is about fun, isn't it?

Oh, one more thing the count at the end was 2 guys and 4 gals... cool!

Weighted Bat

I have heard people say they wished they got a better workout on a ride while leading the ride the whole time. They should swing a weighted bat. I rode my weighted bat today and got a GREAT workout!! I have an old mountain bike that I have built into a 3 speed all purpose bike. One purpose is getting a great workout on every ride. It did not fail me today. I rode with Jay H. Cindy S. and Bob (I mean Rob T.) Cindy is trying to decide if she is going to do the Madison Ironman this year, so she pulled a couple intervals during the ride. I think she can do it. WOW! Jay looks better every day and Rob's bike is beautiful not to mention his commuting has him in top form as well. Very nice ride, it was worth getting up at 5:30. Thanks you guys!

Oh, I should add, the ride was super cool. We went to the Stone Arch Bridge and then down East River Road to Fort Snelling and then up West River Road, stopping at Dunn Brothers on Lake Street. COOL! We decided to go with Jay up to Blaine High School where he was meeting his wife for a ride and then rode home back across the dam. Neat!

Hill Repeats

I have a new favorite ride in our area, it is the Elk River Hill Repeats ride. John R. and Jay H. rode over with me today and we hit the hill 5 times and headed home. John was definitely the polka dot jersey winner today. We got in some great climbing and conversation. Cool! John also won the green jersey by winning Super Prime. We didn't challenge which kind of goofed up his celebration of pointing to the C on his Colorado jersey he got this past week.

Dirt Track Fat Tire Madison

I took the kids out riding tonight and we went to an old running track in the neighborhood. I was timing my kids on quarter mile laps and they were timing me. Then I had the idea of doing a Madison relay with the kids for a half mile time. Owen and I came in with a 2.01 and Rose and I got a 2.09. The kids were thrilled and now we have a goal, beat those times! It was fun to see my kids so excited to ride hard!

Afton Hill Ride

Bernie and I went over to Woodbury for some heavy TCBC action. We had a great ride! The roads were awesome and the group was moving. TSH looked great and if it wasn't for San Antonio Scott hugging Bernie's wheel and a surprise prime, that was completely illogical, we would have swept the thing!

Grrrreat Ride Last Night

Jay T., who may ride for another TSH team next summer, took us on a route up to Elk River and it was great. We did hill repeats and when you had your fill you just waited on the corner for the rest of the group. I flatted and still loved it. I love our group too. I think that I have said it before but I never imagined that I would have belonged to the strongest and most enjoyable peer group in my life when I was 39. How long can this last?

Get This!!

As of right now we have 20 people riding in Team Strong Heart kits! Do you know how cool this is? This is a group that is focused on their love of riding and riding for a purpose. I am thrilled to be a part of this team!

Think about it... you are at an event and someone asks you about your team... rather than saying something like, "ah, well, I am part of this team that, well, rides." You can say, "I ride with a group of people that I care for deeply and that cares for our community by riding for a cause. The cause that we are supporting right now is Camp Odayin. Let me tell you about our group's mission and the camp." How cool is that!? Riding with purpose, a purpose that goes beyond simply making yourself faster and showing up your neighbor!! The possibilities are endless! Come and join the team! I am already planning the holiday party!

Team Strong Heart

The team is growing and this is all very exciting. There is already a team of women heading up to the Headwaters 100 in September and what is the name of their team? Team Strong Heart. We have also gained some other members on in the Northwest Burbs. The team is only gaining strength! RAAM was only the beginning!!