Western Style Update - 1st Half

2 1/2 weeks ago I left the snow covered UP to concentrate on training and throw in a race out west. Leaving a job behind you figure that you will have a lot of time to do the little thingS like relax, vacation, and update social media. Wrong on all 3 accounts. I have been more busy on my trip out West than if I were to stay at home and train. The obvious benefit is the warm weather. With exception to a 3-4 day spand where Ishpeming had heigher temps that Phoenix AZ. Can you believe that? I could not either. Our weather was nice but it made it tough to stomach being 2100 miles away to ride a bike when the Ishpeming weather was more than worthy of bike riding. Anyhow, back to being busy.

It startled with a stop in San Dimas, CA for the 2nd stop of the ProXCT. Race prep and living out of a bike box make racing awful stressful. Once we figured it out we were geared and ready for racing. I had great support in my coach, Danny Kaukola. Saturday was the XC. I pre rode the course Friday and found it tough to get comfortable in the single track. The snow bike does not translate well to the fast dirt. I climbed well but never figured out the fast descents. The course was constantly up and down through a park hill. I started 38th and my goal was to move up a few but mostly to make the cut and finish the race. In the 6 lap race the first 2 went very well. I went over my limit a bit but climbed extremely well and felt fine. On lap 3 the fatigue set in and my descendinworst bad to the point of a crash. At the time I was riding about 28th. By th time I remounted it had dropped me back down into the high 30's. I continued to climb well but I scratched the brakes way to much to continue to put out respectable laps. After the completion of lap 4 I was pulled. I fell outside of the 20%. I was riding solo at the time chasing 3 riders. The 3 riders finished the race. I was 20 sec off from being pulled. Down but not out. Sunday was the short rack. I got a 3rd row call up and my goal was once again to make up a few spots but mostly finish the race. The track was fast with 2 inclines that did damage. The course stung us out into a long line which made the back yo yo affect unmanageable. I busted off the front group and then the 2nd group until I was solo. 15 min into the 20 min race I was pulled. This time I was so close to the rider that was allowed thru I should of grabbed his pocket. I even yelled at the judge to let me thru in a cry for mercy. He didn't allow. I was the last pulled and 5 sec from the cut. I was so upset at myself I finished the race on the nearby hill and then proceeded to rip out 2 hot laps on the XC course. The bad news, I was pulled. The good new is my legs and comfort level on the MTB were better than the day before. More good news, my 2 hot laps were 1 min faster than my fastest lap from the days before XC race. My race goals for my first ever ProXCT Pro race were not achieved but I marked that in the book as a good learning experience. I had to get the first race in at some point and I was happy to have it under my belt. That was the start of my journey.

Packed Car for All Night Drive

After the race I decided to rent a car and drive 6 hours straight through the night to the Grand Canyon. Wow, was I glad I did. I drove through CA and AZ in 6 hours, slept for 2 hours at a truck stop, and made it to the Canyons in time to watch the sunrise. I rode my bike along the rim to Hermits point and back. One of the most gorgeous rides I've been on. The Canyon is so large words don't describe the views. At times the eyes cannot comprehend the lines.

I departed that night and made it to Phoenix for my 3 week solo training camp. Im 2 weeks in now and have had some great riding. I will update more on my training in a later post. For now I'll keep this shorter and label the "Western Style Update - 1st Half"

My very 1st view of the Canyon

Furthest point of the Canyon. Accessible by bike and bus only.

So It Begins

In less than 24 hours I'll be departing Marquette for Sand Dimas, CA the 2nd stop of the ProXCT series.  I'm following that up with a drive over to AZ for a solo style training camp.  I am extremely excited to strap the shoes and helmet on again and dive straight into race efforts.  The need for pain is built into an athlete.  We need constant reminders of why we put the time in we do and in the weirdest way the pain is a reminder.  Especially after a period of diesel style base training.

I have a lot planned for the next month.  The opening of the 2012 race season, meeting up with my coach, a Retul bike fit, a stop at the Grand Canyon on the way to AZ, a family wedding in AZ, training camp in AZ, riding with fellow Yoopers in the AZ sun, start of base 2, trail riding in Prescott with the Peariso's, Mt. Baldy and Mt. Lemmon, and getting to know my MTB again.  There is probably a lot more to be included but that is a great start.

Stay tuned the next couple of weeks as I update frequently of how the racing and training is going on the West Coast.  Thank you to my sponsors for making this possible and especially one of my biggest supporters, my employer - St. Onge Insurance my family owned business.    

Early Start - Dedicating - Season Notes

An Early Start
An early start in the far North of the Upper Peninsula is not the easiest of tasks.  I thought starting training in March last year was tough when I was riding the roads in 30 degree weather showing up back at my house plastered in salt.  Now I'm doing rides on snow covered snowmobile trails in 20 degree weather showing up back at my house covered in snow.  Thank God for the invention of the Snow Bike.  The Snow Bike has allowed me to take a different approach to this 2012 Mountain Bike season.  I find in this sport you are always trying to tweak something whether its your fitness, the bike, the workouts, the races, or even sponsors.  I find that change is a good thing in this sport because usually change means you are working towards a more positive result.

In past years I have started base in March and finish a few weeks after WORS #1 Iola.  This year I have moved the dates up 4 weeks.  I did this because I'm approaching the season different because of my declining results in mid summer.  The coach (Danny Kaukola - Fuel the Burn) and I are going to try and prevent this from happening again.  We will see by mid summer and especially fall time how the 4 week earlier start effects the body and mind.

Dedicating
As most of my followers know one of my biggest supporters and sponsors is Meyer Family Vision from right here in my home town of Ishpeming, MI .  A couple years back Ryan and Ron Meyer approached me to support my efforts at becoming an elite Mountain Biker.  This was very special to me and will forever hold a my gratitude because not many riders get to experience sponsors reaching out to them.  I've known the Meyer brothers for a long time.  Along with them being family and personal friends we have grown up as brothers in Christ.  This relationship brings another level to the sponsorship.  Its not only a sponsorship it is a partnership and best yet a friendship.

In the past year Ryan Meyer has experienced some illness that has brought on the need for major medical attention.  Just recently he went through a liver transplant.  His body was rapidly declining as his liver was losing all function.  This was a serious matter and a life threatening one.  Through the power and miracle of Christ, the loving effort of his brother Ron, and the steady hands of the surgeons he was blessed with a new liver from none other than his own blood brother, Ron.  After the transplant his medical condition seemed to worsen as the body adjusted to the liver.  It wasn't until just recently that he was released from medical attention and back home to continue life and recovery.

This year I will be dedicating all season to my friend Ryan Meyer.  He will be my motivation to train, race, and win.  He has battled life and is on his way to a strong recovery.  His struggle and pain throughout this process are an infinite amount more than I will ever experience from the temporary pain of a training ride or a race.  Ryan....this season is for you.

Season Notes
I was scheduled to take off for a training camp in Arizona on March 13th where I will be meeting up with family for a week, Danny Hill for a week, and then the Peariso's for another..  I am moving that date up a week to attend the 2nd stop of the ProXCT - ProXCT Bonelli.  My goal since turning Pro has been to travel and attend the ProXCT series as it is the premier Pro series in the nation.  The struggle with that is the series starts extremely early in the year and does not appeal to a Northern Snow Bird.  But because of the early start I figured I wold give stop #2 a run.  Plus, I need to get out of this place.  We just got hit with almost a foot of snow!  I expect guys to be extremely fast as they battle in an Olympic year and prepare for the first World Cup the week after.    

Culvers Racing 2012 Kit Design

We have officially released our look for 2012.  We have made some small changes to the kit from the past 2 years.  We went with a look that we feel is much more smooth and clean while still representing the sponsors respectively.  Look for your athletes supporting the new look soon.

Front and Back Jersey and Jackets

Bibs

Wind Vest and  Sleeveless

Noque Snowbike XC World Championships

The Noquemanon pulled off adding a great addition to the Noque weekend.  This year was the inaugural year of adding Snowbike or Fat Bike racing to the slue of activities.  They even went as far as self proclaiming it the World Championships of Snowbiking being no other race in the country has yet.  Even though it is self proclaimed I believe it will take off in time being the location of the event and the popularity of fat bikes in our region.

Picture is used fromm MQTphoto.com.  He reserves all rights.  

I did not have plans on attending this years race because of where it aligned with my bike specific training.  After I wiped the tears from my eyes and stopped whining I had a discussion with my coach and we both decided it would be good for many reasons.  All said and done, I'm so happy I competed and I'm already looking forward to next years events.  The inaugural event had 70+ participants!  That can only mean a bigger field for next year considering the growing popularity of Fat Bikes.    

Marquette received 4-6 inches of fresh snow the night before and unknown to the racers at the time the race committee decided to not groom the 1st half of the course.  This made for a long and hard day for most and changed the tactics of the front of the race.  I did not get a good start at all.  The course turn was unexpected and so was the depth of the snow.  I got caught in a rut and tangled in some handlebars. (My own teammates Glen Lerlies.  I am so sorry Glen. Thank you for the quick release.)  This allowed 2 riders, Tyler J. and Kyle S., to grap a sizable lead up the trail as seen in the pic. I'm the small blue jersey on the hill.

Picture is used from MQTphoto.com.  He reserves all rights.

It took me 2k of battling tracks to pull in Kyle S who was riding well.  Then when I caught him it was a difficult pass.  For the next 2k I was following Tyler J's. tracks until I finally realized that plowing my own down the center was a better option.  Especially with the increased width of the Moonlander rim and tire setup.  Once I found my traction I slipped into a nice cadence and tempo and pulled Tyler back at the 4k mark.  I was feeling good after finding my own path and decided to keep going after I caught him.  I didn't know if he had followed or not but I wasn't going to look back and didn't for another couple of K.  When I finally peeked back I noticed I had created a gap.

At this point we had entered the adventure loop where the steep climbs come one after another.  I opted for higher tire pressure for the latter of the race but it caused me to dismount quite early on each steep accent in the first 15k.  I ran every hill and the quads screamed at me for it but I found even though it hurt more it was much quicker to run the hills.  The higher tire pressure did not seem to interrupt the flow on the flats, downhills, or slight rises.  Approaching Forestville (15k) the hills subside which allowed me to find a good rhythm.

I took this rhythm right onto the hard packed Noque trail which was leading us all the way to the finish line at the dome.  After plowing through 6 inches of powder the corduroy packed trail felt like a highway.  The speeds were so high in comparison that putting your head down and riding with pain was forgotten in the fun.  I finished in 1:13 minutes which took the finish line a bit off guard considering the conditions on the first 15k.

I am extremely happy and pleased with the win.  It is so much fun to win a race in your back yard and in better yet in front of you family.  This shot taken at the end of the race makes every effort worth it.  I had an incredible amount of support out there for an early and cold race.  Thank you to all my family and the Neimi's. The best part of winning an inaugural race?  You hold the course record too!

Sharing the podium with the Woman's overall - Daniell Musto

2012 Culvers Racing p/b Meyer Family Vision Team Announcement

It seems every year we have a change to announce with the team and every year it is a good thing.  Last year, as you all know by now, it was adding our sponsor Meyer Family Vision.  This year we are proud to announce that all sponsors will be returning and we have added another.  But our big news for 2012, adding a Junior team to the Culvers Racing Family.  This has been a goal of the teams since its first year in 2010.  We believe that the youth is the future of the sport and it is important for us to invest into our talented youth giving them the platform to succeed in sport and continue a positive lifestyle.

Culvers Restaurant of Marquette and Escanaba will continue to support our team and once again will be our headline.  Meyer Family Vision of Ishpeming will be our co-headline making another year of Culvers Racing p/b Meyer Family Vision.  Supporting sponsor Quick Stop Bike Shop will be our official bike shop and mechanics. Quick Stop continues to make sure we are on the best equipment and that they run smooth week in and week out.  This year Quick Stop and our Pro team will be working with Trek as the official bike of the Pro Culvers Racing Team.  Watch for Tyler to be on both the Trek Superfly and Trek Superfly 100.  We will also be continuing our great relationship with these great supporters and a new one in Pure Sport.  Donna Marlor has joined the support in helping our Pro team receive the proper race and training nutrition with Pure Sport product.

• St. Onge Insurance
• I-Build Construction
• Palomaki Family Chiropractic
• A. Lindberg & Sons
• Pure Sport - Donna Marlor Nutrition

2012 Roster

Pro

  - Tyler Gauthier

Local Male

  - Danny Hill

  - Glen Lerlie

  - Ron Williams

  - Eric Ollis

Local Female

  - Cooper Dendel

Junior

  - Collin Kytta

  - Cody McGrath

2012 Local Schedule

• Keweenaw Chain Drive
• Ore to Shore
• The Great Deer Chase
• Keweenaw Fat Tire
• Tour Da Woods
• Marquette Bike Jam

2012 Pro Schedule

• Fontana City National, CA
• Cable Classic
• Rasta Ralley
• Wisconsin Off Road Series - 12 Race Series (10 Planned)
• Keweenaw Chain Drive
• ProXCT - Ute Valley Pro, CO
• ProXCT - Missoula XC, MT
• Ore to Shore
• ProXCT Subaru Cup, WI
• Great Deer Chase
• Copper Harbor Fat Tire
• Iceman Cometh 
• UPCross Series

Tune in next week for the release of our 2012 kits.  Culvers Racing will be racing in a new look this year!

Checking In

It has been way too long since my last post but that is how it goes in the off-season.  You loose track of your regular cycling routine and that is a good thing.  Since the last time I checked in I have had some good time off the bike, relaxed nights, completed house chores that get neglected in the summer, doing a strength training program, and planning for 2012.

I am now back on the bike in what I like to call a maintenance period.  This is where I ride the snow bike for fun to get back in the saddle and bring back the feeling of the endless crouch.  Also referred to as TITS (time in the saddle), as my good friend Chris P. likes to refer to it as.  All this is done on the new Surly Moonlander.  During my off time I have continued a rigorous strength training schedule.  Although being off the bike for 6 weeks my cross training tends to carry over some fitness to the bike so that the maintenance period is not so rough.  As I have in the past, I am posting a video to show you a bit of how I strength train in the off season.  This style of exercise correlates with the bike a lot.  It does not have a direct connection to cycling fitness but it brings up the general fitness, strength, and mental capacity that is all used while racing your bike.  Enjoy!

Next week I am going to head down to Madison and visit my friend (brother from another mother) Nathan G. for CX Nationals.  I'm excited to meet his and Lindsay s new addition to the family, Micah.  I'm also excited to watch my cycling peers suffer the pain of the bike in January.  (Good luck to Tyler J. going for the bars and stripes) Through the month of January I will slowly increase my maintenance time and decrease my cross training until I have made the full transfer back to the bike.  Hopefully the favorable winter conditions continue until my training camp in AZ in March.  I can not believe its getting to be that time again.