Virgin Territory

Talk about shooting in the dark.... Sager and I decided to try to make it back to back urban assault wins this weekend, only this time it was in Denver, a city neither of us knows anything about. I took us nearly an hour of navigating just to find the start.



Sometimes a photo can just come together at the right moment. The views from within these city walls are a welcomed break from the 100 degree mountain climbs I have been getting used to.



It's a culture brought together by the freedom of two wheels. Whether you are a cutter....



.... or a lover. The bike has its own universal language.



Make sure to swing by Sager's to get the other half of the story.



On a side note "Rad" Ross swung by this weekend in his new VW sponsored ride. He may be on the injured reserved list but he sure is'nt slowing down.

Pounding Pavement

I rolled into this weekend knowing I was going to be part of something a little bigger than bike racing.... part racing part family entertainment, the Subaru Urban Assault Series.



How can you combine Ranno with Stilts, slip & slides and beer and not crack a smile....



The competition was stiff.... no seriously, it actually really was. We battled with the dynamic duo of Fuentes/Swift till the last couple checkpoints when It came down to local knowledge. Finally all those bike path miles are paying off.



Swing by urbanassalutrace.com to find out when the series is making a stop in your neighborhood.... Ranno and I took home a pair of sweet New Belgium Fat Tire cruisers for our efforts, and Ranno's been cruising ever since.

Distracted By Something Shiny

While most of our fellow lycra super heros are back in Vermont chasing the NORBA dream..... Ranno and I were scoping out the routes for this week's new adventure, Subaru's Urban Assault Race.

Stay tuned as Ranno and I try not to get hit by another car....



No feed zones, no lap count, no canadians.... just 9 check points and mapquest.



Now I am a Volkswagen fan by nature, not default.... With that being said I do have to give Subaru props for learning the art of carcuss hucking.....



All this scouting pavement has left me listening to a little too much punk rock... you have to hand it to Green Day for staying core.

Punk's not dead.... it got a desk job

Rhymes With Carriage

It's been nearly a year since I shocked most of my friends and family with the news of my three day courtship to engagement last fall.... Well my days as a single man are numbered and I couldn't be happier. In the mean time Tracy and I have been doing some white circus recon to see how it all goes down....



Singlespeed guru Jesse Lalonde, is next up on the marriage block. This swobo poster child made sure his last day as a single man didn't slip away without some blood shed. Check out creepyfriendly for the entire story....



In the mean time I have traded in the smell of Colorado's high country for some of Wisconsin's finest dairy air.



It doesn't matter where your home is, whether you have one gear or 30, your next adventure is right out your door. Pedal.

There Will Be A Light

Congrats to Schalk and Eatough for holding down the fort for the Trek VW squad up in British Columbia's epic Pacific Traverse. Schalk has made huge strides in the right direction.... from complaining about his lack of technical skills to jumping into what has been dubbed the "most technical race in history" with Mr. "Technical" himself, Chris Eatough. Nice work guys....



We were about ready to sacrifice a goat if things didn't start to turn around in the Trek camp.



Call it a hunch but I think a gnome with a pipe is more mother nature's style....



This past weekend's Firecracker 50 was a quick reminder that I need dig deep within myself to find my "will to suffer". Some call it a "broken motivator" others call it "the pain cave" some even refer to it as the "check engine soon light". Whatever your lingo, once you loose it, it takes some serious soul searching to bring 'er back.

It isn't easy when your passion is a sport that can literally bring you to your knees week in and week out.... you would think after 10 years of racing I would have it figured out?



Jay Henry on the other hand doesn't seem to be suffering from that problem. Getting married and winning the marathon national championship in only a matter of a couple days.... talk about ultra endurance.

Standing Up To Murphy's Law

In Colorado the 4th of July means the annual Firecracker 50.... 50 grueling miles, 12000 vertical feet of climbing and roughly 4 hours of pain. Since it has been a solid week since I last saddled up, I am predicting a world of hurt that I haven’t felt in a while. Take Jeff’s drool and multiple that by 10....



Lately the Trek/VW squad has been dealt a string of misfortune. “Rad” Ross’s crash back in Park City has left him in a full leg splint and about 3 weeks off the bike... To pass the time he has been pickin’ his banjo, breakin' in his new pair of Carharts, and getting caught up on his secret fetish for romance novels.



On another note, our teammate Bruce Muhlfeld hit the deck pretty hard in Crested Butte and was taken out by Flight for Life to the Grand Junction Hospital where he is expected to be for the next couple weeks. At 50 years young, Bruce is one of the toughest guys in the field and I am confident he will be back to his adventurous self in no time.

Make sure you swing by Bruce’s site and give him some positive words of encouragement as he heads down the road to recovery.