Is this the year? - Ronde van Skandia

Is this the year that another team or individual takes over the stranglehold the ACE Cycling team has had on the Ronde van Skandia?  In it's short but significant existence ACE has showed pure dominance taking home a victory in each of the years of this UP Classic.

The Ronde van Skandia is a UP Spring Classic held annually from the Bicyle Haus ie. Tom Mahaneys house and tours the cobbled, beat up, and dirt roads of Marquette County and more specifically Skandia Township.  Each year presents a new challenge to the riders but this year race director Tom Maheney has outdone himself ensuring relentless pain on the peleton.  He as added a 7 mile gravel road section to the already famous gravel sections including Sporley Lake Rd making the race 81 total miles.  Will this change the tactics, the strengths, the riders?  All to be seen on April 21st, 2012.

This race offers no guarantees.  The only guarantee is that Culvers Racing will have a strong representation and a realistic bid to take away the coveted Classic Crown.  Since the inception of Culvers Racing, 3 years ago, we have had small representation in the Ronde as a full team.  Just a short 3 years ago Tyler Gauthier made a bid for the victory with the help of teammate Ron Willimas but was nipped at the line by both ACE riders Dave Grant and the winner Matt Culligan.  Ron Williams rounded out the top 4.  Tyler and Ron threw every shot they had but the experienced classic ACE riders proved to be too smart and strong on that day.

It is a new year, with new passions, and new riders.  Coming so close a few years back Tyler has made a specific effort to become a specialist at the UP Classic races.  He started his bid and classic specific training a year ago with the winning of the inaugural La Fleche du Nord, a 75 mile classic through the unforgiving roads of the Keweenaw.  He has continued his training riding only Belgium like roads for the last 11 months.  He has ridden so many cobbled roads his hands have built a permanent bumper callus to protect the jarring vibrations of the ruthless cobble.  So much so the UCI is investigating the freak phenomenon.  They are claiming that the natural grown callus is good for at least 2-4 mph on the cobbles because it absorbs so remarkably.  After further review though, they have released him of no wrong doing and attributed it to his specific training style.

To help with that bid there will be a plethora of Culvers blue in the peleton this year.  Toeing the line will be:

• Tyler Gauthier
• Ron Willimas
• Danny Hill
• Glen Lerlie
• Pete Karinen
• Collin Kytta
• Cody McGrath
• Cooper Dendel
• Gerry Koski

With array of different style riders no one on the Culvers team can be counted out.  Especially the seasoned Danny Hill.  Coming off 2 "Men of all Men" races, the Tour Divide and AZ Trail 300, you can never count out the toughness of this man.  Also with experience is Ron Williams and Glen Lerlie.  Coming in 4th a few years back the experience and climbing ability of Ron will surely keep the attacks to a minimum. Glen is one of the smartest guys in the peleton and has a knack for keeping the team together and strong.  Then there is the youth of the squad.  How can you count out the young and fresh legs of Pete, Collin, Cody, and Cooper.  It is truly meant when said, "Youth is on your side."

Rumor is the Belgium and Culvers crazies have been body painting for days now.  The gravel climbs are rumored to have only a one lane option.  With so much hype and talent the Ronde is a must see and ride this year.        

26 days in 22 pictures

A quick journey through my 3 1/2 week racing/training camp in California and Arizona.  Thank you to my family, colleagues, and sponsors for allowing me to live such a blessed and special life riding a bike. 

ReTUL Bike Fit in Redlands, CA

Hooked up to the ReTUL sensors

All night road trip to the Canyon

Arrived to GC just intime to watch the sun rise

Entering the country side of Flagstaff

First sunset ride

Technology - Talking to my nephews before my ProXCT Race

Morning coffee rides were a common occasion

First ride at the Canyon

First view of the Canyon

I was happy to see this.  You don't see as many in PHX as you do in Tuscon

McDowell Mtn. - Incredible system of single track

Sometimes you just had to take it all in

Recap of the trip to that point - A lot of beauty

Mt. Lemmon - I took this same picture 3 years prior

High elevation with Chris P. in Prescott, AZ - Rocky Climbs

View from my bed in Prescott - Thanks to the Pearisos

Amazing road ride from Prescott to Jerome

Corner Cafe in the Ghost/Mining town of Jerome - Favorite place

All rides should have this kind of stop planned

Common mid ride in AZ with the heat.  Refuel and re-hydrate

Going home!

Making Smiles

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual Bell Bike Race.  The indoor cycling event is a fundraiser for the hospital.  It is the perfect venue to promote the team, bikes, health, and fitness.  We teamed up with Quick Stop Bike Shop and our other sponsors to give away a Trek MT200 to a child from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  We developed an essay contest and I have the fun job of picking the winner from the most creative and meaningful essay.

Last year I was out of town and did not get to give the bike away.  This year I was present and presented the child and his family with a brand new Trek.  The smile on this young boys face will stick with me for a long time.  Not only did it bring a smile to his face but his family was grinning ear to ear.  This absolutely melted my heart and I wished I could give away 100 bikes.  His essay talked about creating adventures like Indiana Jones on his new bike so it was perfect when he showed up to get his bike in his very own Indiana Jones fedora.  

A bike.  It gives so many things.  Health, fitness, activity, and sport just to name a few.  The best thing I seen it give was on the Caleb's face.  A smile.  A bike continues to bring me so much in life and the best part about it is it continues to make me smile when I ride.  I'm so happy the team has the ability to pass the smile on to a child.  With one bike at a time we can introduce a whole new life creating better lifestyles and communities.

A Reason to AZ

The biggest difference in my season last year was adding 2 base periods to my training. Before hiring a coach I knew nothing of the base period and had a hard time understanding the big hours for short races. After the completion of 2 base periods I saw a dramatic improvement in my fitness and ability to finish races which lasted throughout the year. The year before I had start power but could never finish without a cramp or decline in power. This past year I had my same start power and made it much further into races. With so much success with base the plan was to build on last years program. After looking back on the training log, even though an improvement, last year's hours were sporadic and I still achieved the purpose. "The Plan" is my reason for 26 days in AZ this year. To build on my program from last year and not allow anything to get in the way of achieving it. Sure it can be done from home but 20 hour weeks with 40 hour work weeks and unpredictable weather is, well...unpredictable. I have the fabulous support of my employer, sponsors, and family to do 3 weeks in AZ so why not give it a go. I'm on my way home now and the trip was a success. The brief stats are 70+ hours, >1,000 miles, >70,000 vertical feet, and all via the MTB. All the data is everything I was looking for and adds up to my largest month on recorded and I still have one week to add to make it a complete 4 weeks.

The training started in Phoenix where I became very familiar with the Trail 100 and the canal. In addition, in the Phoenix area I did McDowell Mtn and South Mtn both with Danny Hill. I also rode plenty of the pavement with the knobbies left on. The tread on my Bontrager 29.3 can prove that. On the other hand my Maxxis Ikon shows little wear. Maxxis has always been my tire of choice and this is good validation. By the end of my trip I would have made a darn good GPS. From Phoenix I headed North to Black Canyon City where I rode the most continuous single track trail I've ever ridden. It's a 25 mile out and back trail, all single track and all up and down the mountains. I joined Chris Peariso and Ryan Krayer for the ride. Chris killed the first half of the out and Ryan used all his gas on the second half. That left me with no gas for the 25 mile return. They dragged me a long which ended up being one of the best single track rides I've been a part of. From Black Canyon I went back South for a few days until I returned North to Prescott. I waited to go to Prescott until the 20 inches of snow they received cleared. I was hosted by the friendliest team on the circuit, Adventure 212 and the Peariso's. They had a condo at the base of all the trails in Prescott. These trails were fairly similar to Black Canyon as they are a lot of single track along the mountains. Chris and I smashed a 4 1/2 hour day with 7,700 feet of climbing in 43 miles. That hit us hard enough where we both were zombies on the next day's ride. We could not resist the trails though and still managed 3:20 with 6,000 feet in 33 miles. Even if it included a 30 min nap and complain session on the sturdiest picnic table known to man. After rides of those magnitudes all that consumes the mind is food. We had our fair share and be even got questioned twice in the same day by 2 different severs if we knew how much food we were ordering. Our response with a smile, "We know. We are hungry." The Pearsios bolted town and I stayed for a morning ride via the winding roads from Prescott Valley to Jerome. I may have just become the most beautiful ride I've done. The roads are smooth and winding up one side and down the red rock faced hills of the other, all leading to the Ghost Mining town of Jerome. I found a fabulous place for Espresso and back to Prescott Valley. Thank you Trish Riutta for that suggestion. My 2nd to last ride I mounted the Shwalbe Marathons and did the BOS Road group ride. A fast group ride in Scottsdale. I received quite a few comments about rolling up on a MTB bike but the chattering stopped when I made the break to the first rendezvous point. I quickly became known for 3 things. The guy from the same town of the fastest man in the Valley, Eric Marcotte, the MTB who survived the group, and the guy who made everyone hungry by my Butter Burger kit. The ride consists of two attack points. I made the first but could not make the 2nd. A good and fast ride. A good way to end the camp. A side note: I didn't like how the group thought they owned the road. The group consistently blew stop signs, rode 3-4 wide, and cut in front of cars. With moves like that I can understand the impatience of drivers. Im a believer we deserve the road just as much as motorist but because we are a group of 30 doesn't mean we own it. I hope they work on that problem. 

My iPad will not allow me to upload pictures so come back in a few days where I will have plenty to share. In the mean time it is an off day for travel and then back to work and then finishing off the final 2 weeks of base back home. With the bulk of this period in I hope I can grudge through the spring weather and call 2012 base a success.

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.