Training Partners

With the changing seasons comes the change in motivation. Each year it seems to be getting pushed later into the season. I am not sure why but maybe I am getting better at controlling this overwhelming feeling of blah. Or, maybe it is the crowd I choose to hang out with and their ability to bring me back in my element.

I think this year it hit me last week as a strong surge of laziness and has since settled into a subtle feeling of "this isn't so bad". To get me through these bouts of whatever you want to call it I really call on other people and things for motivation, even if they don't know it.

Nate the past two Wednesdays, and the whole Waukesha crew lead by the one and only Ronsta have been great support. This is nothing new as I have ridden with these guys before but recently it has been so great to have their company. Last Saturday my dog Ginger took the reigns as she added a good 15lbs to my uphill intervals at Lapham. Sunday Mike P. brought me through the downtown and then northbound on a little adventure. Monday Ging took over again as I ran with her through the streets of Butler to get ready for cross. As recent as yesterday I was totally settled as I flowed through the single track across the road. It is perfect for a recovery ride and at times I forget I am in the middle of a metropolitan.

The point of the story today is that it is ok to rely on other people to get me through these "hard times". Ahhhhh I feel better already.

Thanks to all for helping me out.

Oh yeah, Jack, that chicken sandwich and beer hit the spot so thanks.

DB

Check this out.

So while checking things out on USA Cycling I stumbled across This.......
http://www.usacycling.org/rankings/index.php?sex=m&state=&org=mountain&disc=xc&cat=1&agemin=1&agemax=99
Not bad for my first year racing Cat. 1 :)
(Click Go!)

Not Bad?

Lake Geneva.

Another top 5 elite had me super stoked but yet disappointed. Am I getting a little greedy? I am going to say YES!!!!!

My training has brought me to this point and I have exceeded my personal expectations for the year. So why must I continue to strive for more excellence. It is the way I am wired as is probably the case for many of us A Typical people.

If I were asked at the beginning of the year what my goals were I would have quickly rambled off "A top ten would be awesome" without even thinking about an Elite WORS overall series finish. I don't think I set the bar low as the Elite competition is steep and every race has brought new challenges.

That bar that I am referring to has been lifted every time I met a goal this year, and Sunday was no exception. I had to at least tell my self there was an outside chance. So I pumped myself up and said I can do this. right out of the shoot I made a fool out of myself missing my peddle and falling back to 20th or so. Immediately panic set in as I started to claw my way back to a decent position. While on my way there I was cussing and very upset with myself but finally made it to about 10th or so. A few more passes and I was onto Matters wheel which made me feel a little better about things. Having burned a lot of matches to get there I was redlining. Matter made his move and I wasn't able to go with him around Ryan Baumann who is super strong but struggled in the singletrack.

After the first lap I settled down a bit and tried to be more in the moment to conserve the position that I had. A few more painstaking laps had me trading places with a few guys but I pretty much new where I stood. Another good finnish and great race in the books. To top things off I learned something again. After all that is my primary focus and I can't lose sight of that.

All and all the weekend was great.

I want to say thank you to the Peariso's and Adventure 212 for all their support. I feel so grateful to be on the team and can't wait for the Cheq. 40 where we will all be at the same time. I also want to thank my wonderful girlfriend Lynn who amongst school, work, school work and chores has time be my sideline coach. These guys and many others make it possible for me to beat the crap out of myself every weekend. I mean do what I love and love what I do.

Darrin

Report(s)

Soooooo whats happening? Good question. The answer.....A LOT!!!! I have been a total slacker with my blog and I know that there are people who actually care what I have going on and wonder how I am doing. So to you two or three, here goes.

Lets roll things back a bit;
8/2 Wors #7 was my best showing at a WORS event to date. I took 4th at that race on my Surly which Don deemed a "boat anchor". The coarse ripped and I was so happy for Nathan G. on his first WORS win in his Elite career. Every time I would see him I would cheer him on.That was also the last race I did on a single speed. Since then I have been training and riding on a geared bike to get ready for the Chequomegon 40. My good fried/team manager Chris P. has been nice enough to let me use his Titus 29er.


After Crystal Ridge it was my time off, a whole week to be exact and no racing for three weeks....or so I thought. My week was filled with activities like walks with my two favorite ladies in the whole world, a few chill bike rides, and one long 4hr ride with my coach Joe. The next week was filled with short rides and no intensity but I could swear up and down that I was still ready to race. So we made some quick arrangements and off we went to River falls for the border battle.


8/16 WORS #8 As a last minute addition to the schedule preparation was minimal and I mean MINIMAL. Bad Idea #1 I grabbed the Titus for its first race with me aboard. The NO TUBES CROWS were still on there and rain was in the forecast so I grabbed some mud tires that I haven't ever used. Bad idea #2. We get there and fire our bodies after hibernation of a drive. I felt pretty good physically on the preride but did way too much. Also I wasn't used to the bike but didn't have a choice so I acted as if. The whole night it rained and I was in panic mode so on went the mud tires. Bad Idea #3 But what the heck. A good call up and I was rubbing shoulders with the best of them. I felt like crap on the first climb and new I was going to be in for a longgggg day. No joke as I came in 14th and feeling like the onset of death had come over me. Chalked it up as a bad day and headed home.

I want to thank the Senkerik's for putting up with Lynn, Ginger and I the whole weekend.

After that weekend the pressure was on. I had already gotten a boatload of flack from all the guys on singles, and even some geared guys. So it was time to train and get things going again. I was scheduled for a long week already but the guilt trip I put on myself made it even longer. about 5hours of saddle time longer. I was scheduled for about 14 but ended up doing 19 with some pretty hard efforts. One motor pace session with Joe and Mike and a 4.5hr solid ride at the southern Kettles with Nate. I was spent but knew it would pay off sometime down the road. My next major focus, Chequomegon.

Can't forget about the in between.
Wors#9 Reforestation Ramble.
An awesome start had me sitting 3rd or 4th wheel into the woods and I was giddy about that. I think I can credit it to the gears, with no out of control spinning to just stay in the group I was able to hold my own. Once things got going I felt confident with my riding and was sure I would be able to stay with the lead group. This was another huge goal of mine as I haven't been able to make said group yet this year. With Jesse killing it at the front and the more experienced guys pushing me to the back I was playing YOYO all day. It was just a matter of time and sure enough with about 15minutes left in the race I let a small gap open and off the back I went. So I regrouped and pushed it to the finish line seeing stars the whole way. Whew! Held onto 6th and with that star studded crowed I was pleased. Shout out to Chris P. for his finish as he has been having bad luck all year. He even had to claw his way back to the lead pack after a first lap crash. During my time with the pack he was attacking like a mad man and seemed to have great form!

Copper Harbor
A short week of work and training lead me into the Labor day weekend which I was super stoked about. I love going to Coppor Harbor and with Friday off Lynn and I were able to start our vacation early. We drove up to the MI border and Camped one night. Up early so we could take our time seeing things and stopping at random. That area is so cool and there is so much to see. Amongst our sight seeing we also saw many good people. Nate and his Family, Steve and Judy whom I met the very first year I went up there, and the whole gang from that area. It was so cool to be back. Lots of hiking, riding, eating and just plain hanging out. Ahhhh the good life.
Sunday came as it always does and I was ready to race. Not before taking a plunge into the frigid waters of lake Superior and ya it was cold. I missed out last year so I thought I had better make up and jump in twice this year. Next thing I know we are toeing the line and getting ready to go. Off we went chasing the truck up the hill and then finally we were on our own. Chris P. did his usual and I grabbed his wheel with a little gap opening between us and the rest of the field. I let him hammer for a while then took over. Before long we were by ourselves and neither of us were taking it easy on each other. As we finished up the first lap we called a truce and decided we would come in together and put the trophy in Adventure 212. In my eyes there was no other way as this was a chance for us to show people there what we do. So in we came holding each others arms aloft to signify a co victory. Good food and booze followed and a good night was had. More riding and sight seeing was in store the next day before the dreaded drive home. I would like to give shout out to my good friend Chris Z. on his 3rd place SS finish. Also, Congrats to the whole 212 team who had an awesome showing filling up the top spots and taking home some sweet awards.

To sum things up the weekend was more than I ever expected as always, and I will definitely go back again next year. I also want to thank every one who helped me out last weekend including Lynn who did a great job of handing bottles off to the whole team. Terry, David, Dennis and Heidi for all of their super support. And last but certainly not least the Peariso's and Adventure 212. Without these guys my season probably wouldn't have been the same. I am learning so much this year and I feel like I am one step closer everyday to achieving my goal.

Everyday is an opportunity for me and I will continiue to use these opportunities to my advantage.
Be happy.
Darrin

P.S. Thanks for hanging in there as I know it was a long one. Also I will post some pics soon or you can go to our Flikr page and they will be posted in a day or so.

Credit

So I think it is about time to give credit where credit is do.

Anyone who races knows how much work it is. The weekends blend into the weeks and free time is given up. I have always had a super supporter on my side and don't even know what it is like to be on my own when it comes to a race pit crew. My girlfriend Lynn is hands down the best sideline coach/water bottle hander offer. She always keeps me filled, focused, and headed in the right direction. I try to show her how much I appreciate it but flowers, cards, and hugs can only show so much. So, I thought it was time to give her props here for everyone to see.

Lynn is always there cheering and telling me good job as she hands me a bottle. Last weekend however I was touched deeply by the reaction she gave me on my 4th lap. The look on her face and the tone of her voice was something I have never heard from anyone my whole life. She was so proud of me as I moved into the 5th position as this is something both her and I thought we wouldn't see. At least not this year. Things haven't been going so good for her as far as success goes but I always tell her that my success is hers. I truly mean this and would gladly put her up on a podium if only in my mind.

I am truly blessed to have such a great girlfriend and look forward to continuing my journey with Lynn by my side.

Also I would like to thank my sister Jamie for cheering me on this weekend and my big bro Craig for all of the tech advice and moral support he gives. They are both big supporters of team LDB.

Thanks to Team Adventure 212 for all their support, and all of the people who make the Wors events great. I am always meeting new people and I get to race with a great group as well.

Until next time

DB

Sunburst.

Last weekend I finnished Wors #6 Sunburst Showdown and have to say I had a good time. The coarse isn't the most desirable for a single speed but I made the best of it. It was very exciting to be up there with the leaders on the way out and be able to hang close throughout the whole race. Matter lead it out slow so being on a single I was very greatful. Once we hit the climb things started to sort out and I was in position, probobly about 6th wheel or so. I did my thing on the hills but struggled on the flats and the down hills when the gears would put the hammer down. That hammer I am referring to is a one Mike Phillips. I would definantly say he is back online. The challange was to claw my way back to a wheel every lap which I did for 4 of the 5 laps. Again every time the flats would string me out so the hills would get harder, (Simple gears would probobly help me out with this). So on the last lap I let too big of a gap open up and instead of trying to close it, I let it go.

I was on my own for the last lap and knew I had time on my side to lighten up the tempo and try to save my legs. Those said legs have been continiously sore for the past two races and I am trying to make that go away. All and all I was 5th on the day and am super stoked about this as I have already exceeded the goals that I have set for myself on the year.

Ok Lets try this again.

So with my lack of blogging I will try to catch everyone up.

Levis/Trow Single Speed Championship
Two weekends ago I did the Wisconsin Single Speed Championship at Levis as I was not going to miss that one. Any chance I can get to return the my native stopping grounds is an automatic. Prepared for the Big Guns show up I was ready to hang on for dear life. With that not being the case it was up to me to set the tempo. The start was like all starts should be with a slow lead out until some dude thought he would one up me. I passed him back before the single track and got into a rythm. As I was whaling the corners I could hear the group trying to form a bridge and pull me back. I realized that I don't remember the trails as great as I thought as I took a spill shortly into Yellow Jacket. I regrouped, grabbed my water bottle and pushed on. I wasn't too concerned though as I knew the climbing was yet to come. This climbing at Levis is about as technical as anything out there and I was waiting to attack. With sore legs at the start of the race I wasn't too sure what would happen but hey it was worth a shot. It went good and I think I put some time in the group. I stayed on the gas but stayed away from doing anything risky.
Going into Hermosa (after Upper Hermosa) there are alot of roots and I somehow dropped my chain. I turned into a frantic mess. Struggling for about 30 seconds or so. I had to calm myself down and then it took me about another 15 seconds to get my chain back on. Whew! Still now I was riding conservativly trying not to drop another chain. I rode like this until about Porkys Point where I just said skrew it and started to ride my style again. Luckily there would be no more chain drops for the rest of the race.
Starting my second and last lap my plan was to just keep the guys out of sight. With the Cruise control on I was able to pick up my water bottle that I dropped on the first lap, picked up and then dropped again. So as I am loo looing along I see a dude stopped on the side of the trail and who would it be but Bret S. Who was doing the 12 hr. I slowed alot for a little chat session but informed him of the situation and said goodbye. I kinda took off and realized he was going to ride with so I slowed the tempo a little again. This was super cool and him and I rode for a while. Once I hit the Upper Hermosa climb I took off again and him as I were both cheering each other on.
After the departure with Bret I pretty much just rode at a good tempo and enjoyed the awesome trails that I once got to enjoy several times a week. On my way to the finnish the excitement hit me. Another win on my Favorite trails.

Chippewa Valley Fire Cracker
Another RR style mtb race. Fun but challanging on a single speed. I picked my gear and had an idea of what I needed to do. I was swarmed on the start but that was to be expected. I hung in there and started my claw back. Working with Ted Hanes the first couple of laps we were making ground. We shook a few others and then it was just Ted and I and he took control. With a few attacks I was able to manage I hoped to hang on to the end. Finnishing up the second to last lap we pickup up Bender. The three of us rode for a while until Ted had to stop and add some air. Down to Le Hoover and I. We rode for a while with me on his wheel as a little chatting took place. I figured he was still strong but wanted to share the workload to the finnish. As I took over I kept the tempo up and started to drop him. So I let up and explained that we could just ride together. Continued on about the same till the end where I made a sprint for line. 6th on the day and I was happy.

Good Times
Darrin