Hugh Jass fatbike race #2

 Round 2 of the HughJass series was in Evanston, IL last weekend. The conditions were nasty, standing water and mud.  It was warm out though, it was nice to race in a jersey and shorts on December 12th.

Great photo by Keen Eye Photographs

The course was completely flat, so they added in some cyclocross obstacles to make it interesting.

Scoring by putting your number plate in a bucket.

Brody, Dave, Brad, and Dave.

POS Bike Toss Challenge

Mens Podium

Another great race put on by the hughjass guys and gals. The after race festivities are bigger than any other race I've been to.  DJ's, beer, food, prizes, bike toss, and good times. You should come to the next one, January 2nd in Franklin, WI.

Blog Motivation

Whenever I choose a photo to put in my blog, I put it in a folder so it is easy to find when I need to upload it. This folder is creatively named "blog photos."

I was going through that folder tonight and noticed that most of those photos are from the "off-season" for riding bikes. Which makes sense, because Summer is such a busy time of year and I would rather be outside than on the computer anyway. 

So I guess that would make this "blog season."

Added some bar mits to Evans bike

Started the weekend out on a mountain bike ride with Mike and Pat.  My kid, Evan, has been bugging me for sometime now to bring him along on these rides with Mike so I finally gave in and told him to come along. 

I figured he would have the best time of his life, because that is what I do every time I get a leisure ride in the woods with friends. Unfortunately Evan is still getting used to his coaster brake. So when he gets freaked out on a downhill he takes his feet off the pedals and tries to stop with his feet, which doesn't work. 

I have seen some pretty fast riders go through trails, but none as fast as my 4 year old that doesn't understand how to use his brakes. The speed he carried down the hill was incredible. I was so proud.

I just wish that tree hadn't gotten in his way and sent him flying through the air. He just clipped it with his right hand, which started a handlebar swap that no one could have recovered from.

Now Evan doesn't want to ride in the woods anymore... Hopefully he changes his mind by next weekend because I thought we had a great time.

The Pabst Theater

After the bike riding, my wife and I did something we never do. We went out without the children.  Not by choice of course, we were invited by Brian and Janel to go see Larry the Cable Guy in Milwaukee. I did not know that we would also see Jeff Foxworthy there as well, which was awesome. These guys will have you laughing so hard you'd think you spent the night doing sit ups, because your sides are so sore.

All you need for 100 miles

Sunday I got out for a long one. My goal was to find a good route to my new job in Rockford, but after 88 miles of scouting I hadn't found anything I would recommend on a regular basis. In town isn't bad, because everyone is doing 35 and hitting stop lights. and 10 miles out of town is good too, because it's country roads. The dangerous part is the 45 mph zones in between, where there are no shoulders and everyone is doing 60 mph on an overpopulated two lane road.

For example look at the photo below, a 45 mph zone with a telephone pole broken in half and car parts 100 yds into the field.

When you see it...

Not ideal for riding bikes. Not 5 miles after taking this picture I was ran off the road by some bitch on a cell phone. That is another long story I am not ready to get into. 

I am not writing off the bike to work idea just yet, I have a couple more ideas. For now though, I will be driving.

So here is to another season of base miles, cold weather, and good times.

Hugh Jass Fat bike race #1 at Minooka

The Hugh Jass fat bike Series put on by Wheel and Sprocket and Badger Bikes started off last weekend.  It was an extremely well run event, and definitely offered some "twists" from typical bike racing. 

Hammerschlagen

I think the biggest twist was the hammerschlagen. In between each lap you had to hammer a nail into a board in order to pass go and begin your next lap.  I had a hard time with this, it was almost like a duathlon, just when you get done climbing this giant hill you turn and sprint to the bottom then hammer a nail. It was a challenge and made things interesting.

My dude and I getting ready for the start

Gooo!!!!

Unfortunately last weeks snow melted with some rain during the week and left the single track a mess. So the course was made up of entirely cross country ski trail. This time of year that is just the way it goes.  That makes a course that favors someone who is in good shape and can turn a big chainring. 

Currently I am not that person...  Spent too much time drinking beers and hunting deer, instead of grinding gears the last couple months.  So my plan was to start hard, hold on to the top guys as long as possible, then back off  and save some for the end.  

Everything went to plan, I got a really good start. Hung out with the lead 3 guys for a lap or two then backed off.  When I backed off two guys got by, but I was able to get one back on the last lap for 5th overall.

Like I said earlier, it was obvious that the promoters of this series really wants it to succeed.  I was really impressed with the prizes, the turn out, the smooth registration, the timely results, the free beer, and the not so typical bike race routine.

It's Fall!

That means many things are going on.  Another one of my hobbies have come back into season, deer hunting. Man, I love that... it is like a game of chess, except your opponent spends its entire life avoiding you. Those deer are smart creatures no doubt.

Combine that with some prime scenery for riding bikes, add in some trips to the pumpkin patches and apple orchards with the kids and before you know it... I haven't written a blog in months!

This is my favorite time of year, spring can be sloppy, summer hot and winter cold. Fall brings cooler temps, changing leaves, and the motivation to get outside before winter comes.

So while I am short on time, I am not short on fresh air and good times.

Get out and have fun!

David

Snow is here now...

WORS Treadfest Photos

Below are some photos I took from Treadfest last weekend.  Feel free to take and share...

Mike 

Single Speed...

Full suspension allows you to sit through rock gardens

No suspension means you need to find a better line

Loop Out of Orangeville

The Hills are taller than Silos

Fence Post Decorations

I was surprised to see an atv trail as part of the route.

Mountains in Illinois

Crush it

http://www.strava.com/routes/3255625

WEMS race at Southern Kettles

WEMS race at the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine was Saturday.  I typically do the long/solo division, but decided to help out with registration and scoring during the day and race the short/solo version. I had a great time hanging out with Jamison and Jason all day, we took it super serious and had no fun at all (read that sarcastically).  I put nearly all the 6 hour folks into the computer, so if something went wrong with your time I apologize.  If nothing went wrong then it was probably due to beginners luck!

I saw some pretty impressive performances out there.  I haven’t looked at the official results yet, once I do I will add some comments and story to the report.

If you see yourself or a friend in a photo, feel free to take copy or share it.

Sunday Service

 This Sundays Service was held at The Church for the Community of United Treadheads.  Presiding Pastor Baggio directed the service while Archbishop Butch was out sacrificing his time and energy into maintaining the service grounds.  TJ and I were privileged to be in attendance.

Treadhead Rock Garden

Photos from the Chequamegon Trip

Here are a few more photos from our trip up north last weekend for the Chequamegon 100(Race report HERE).  We had a great weekend, Evan said a couple times “daddy I wanna live here.”  I don’t think he realizes that summer begins in June and ends in July up there, but we all enjoyed our time away.