suffer cup

So today was the last day of a short week of training for the Subaru cup. Which in my mind might as well be called the suffer cup because that's how it's going down on Saturday with or with out rain. I've raced this course twice now, once wet and once dry and they both hurt like hell. In my mind the person that is willing to suffer the most will win this race. There's not enough technical sections there to put a technically inclined rider at an advantage. Just alot of climbing. (for wisco) GET READY TO HURT!
Ok where was i ?? emm yes the last training ride. Well it started out alittle different in the fact that i chose to do my 37 mile loop backwards. That was only the beginning of the madness, as i made the turn off center rd i saw one of my favorite cows wanting to race me? He was looking right at me with his front legs on the top of the fence as if to say i bet you'd be going faster up that hill if i was chasing you. I agreed and stood up and grinded up the remainder of the hill. I made it about 15 miles further into my ride before the first bird started chasing me. I'm not sure what i was more worried about getting pecked at or pooped on. I mean after all i was wearing my frank jersey. He hung with me pretty good until i hit 25 mph then he said screw it, i'll just call a few miles up the road and have my buddy chase you. And he did just that because oh i'd say about two miles up the road i started getting chased again. I tell ya... Most people get harassed by dogs. Not this guy, birds and cows! After that the rest of the ride was pretty low key. When i got home i ate some raisins, cut the grass and now it's time to rest. Resting is laying in bed with a bottle and your legs up.. Digging up your back yard, that's not resting. : )

One of these days i'll get the camera out again. I wish i coulda got a shot of that cow.

wors # 3

The big ring classic (Wausau) race number three in the WORS series.
I had my doubts going into this race based on the rain that George called for. But after pre riding Saturday with Nate and Jesse in the rain I felt better, the course wasn't in to bad of shape yet annnnd i was still holding out hope that it would stop raining before Sunday morning.
I woke up Sunday morning and jumped on the computer to check what it was doing in Wausau........NOT RAINING. Awesome I thought, so awesome that the fact that it was only 40 some degrees at the time really didn't bother be that much. Going into this race I knew the lead out would be fast and that part held true as we pushed up, down and around the double track leading to the first climb at which point I was following about seven guys. I passed a few of them before getting to the first single track section and a few more as I gunned it into the double track leading to ho chi min. By this time I wasn't seeing to many number plates with four numbers
(my competition) But I knew I had to keep pushing because one error on my part and they'd be right back at me. And that's just what happened towards the end of the first lap I was trying to make a corner and took the high side on a big wet root and went down hard. I got up only to find my chain had fallen off (story of my season) at least it didn't break. I put it back on but by this time a few people passed me and a few more were hot on my tail. I recovered and took back some of the ground I had lost in the crash. The second lap was not the greatest either I had some shifting problems going into the climbing section of the course and mid way up ho chi min i dropped my chain again and was forced to run up part of the devilish climb. At that point I felt like I was taking one step forward and two steps back. So the remainder of the race I tried to keep the gearing somewhere in the middle which made climbing harder and took some sap out of my legs but seemed to help keep the chain on. I ended up finishing 10th out of 84 and 2nd in my age group. Looking back I'm happy that I was able to finish a race but it just leaves me even more hungry for that oh so elusive perfect race....... Nordic?
After I got home i played around with my rear derailiour with little or no luck. It seems fine shifting up but dropping down gears It's a mess.
Back to the shop it goes.

lets try this again

Today was my last training ride before WORS #3 which was refreshing just to think about. Since i didn't race last weekend and with my chain breaking at Iola , i've been looking forward to this race for awhile now.
I headed towards the lake and was moving along pretty good and all i could think was "man i must have some major tail wind action, the ride home is going to suck" But i figured, all well if i have it now, i might as well use it now. As i made my way up and over a bridge i saw a tractor and decided that i should chase it down. I sprinted up skeleton bridge (sounds hard core right) i caught him and motor paced him down and around the corner until he turned off. It wasn't nearly as cool as it sounds, for one.. freshly cut hay might taste good to the cows but i am not a cow and two... i was only going 22 mph. But a fun story none the less. Speaking of tractors, judging by the large amount of cow dung i encountered in various locations today on the road i'd have to say it's manure spreading season! I thought for sure on that last patch i was going to blow a tube. I saw it coming from a distance and thought oh boy this is going to be a story. But as luck would have it i sailed right through it and it wasn't even wet. "great success"
I took an extended loop today that i hadn't taken before and i'm glad i did. It took me right past a little ol car shop that had five el caminos!!! I've wanted one of those since i was a kid and i'm not really sure why. I guess i just like/liked the idea of having room to put stuff and not having to drive a big truck to do it. So needless to say i enjoyed the extra four miles.
The wind i was dreading riding into on the way home ended up being more of a breeze than anything and was a nice way to end the ride.
Now it's off to softball..... Still unbeaten!

chain, chain go away come again when you can stay on for a day

Saturday marked the first race at greenbush and considering that was more or less where this whole mountain bike thing started for me I couldn't let it go unraced. Around six is when the fun started when Jshoe picked me up. We then drove to the race site and met Steve. The race that Jesse and Steve were doing (12 hour solo) started at eight. So after a little prep time they headed out on there first lap and i was left to take photos. (So here are those pictures i promised)

It was a great day to watch a bike race, But i couldn't help but be eager for my time to race. I would be partaking in the 6 hour solo event which started at one. So after a few more hours of watching and alittle helping in the pits it was time for my race. The first section (maybe a 1/2 mile) of the trail was blistering fast with a slight down hill and a few easy corners that made you feel uber good about your skills. And then the next five miles of the lap where like riding through a war zone so to speak. There were rocks every where (baby heads if you will) and if you got to close they would defiantly blow you up..... Well this coming from a guy who was rocking a hard tail, pun intended. The last two miles of the course where comparable to the start in that they were both really fast and somewhat flowing. Anytime during the course of the race that i would feel tired i would just tell myself that i was almost to that section again even if i had just passed it. I enjoyed that part a lot. For those of you who weren't adding as you read, a loop was about seven miles. The first lap went pretty good and even though it was rough out there, I was looking forward to another one. The second lap was about the good as well ANNNNDD THEEEEN the the third lap came and it started to rain and then it rained some more. It rained a lot! and in a short period of time. It was about that time that the nice HARD dirt trail turned into grease, peanut butter, ice, mud and muck all in one... I know, nasty right! The up hills became all but impossible to ride and i felt like i had skis on my bike rather than wheels on the down hills. About half way through that lap i was considering quiting seeing in how i was using this race for training more then anything. I was almost done with the lap when i tried going down a mudslide of a decent that included some off camber ground and killer baby heads. I didn't make it down very far before my wheels turned into skis once more and gave way. I was headed towards the ground starring at a log that for some reason had my name on it. Mushckihlkahg, is the noise i made falling until i hit the log head first then it was a baaaaaaaam. Lets just say i'm glad i had my helmet on. Where your helmets kids! I then got back on my feet and not so gently placed the log of the trail. I then finished the lap and went back to camp convinced i was done for the day, sat down with Steve, had a beer, checked the results (at the time i was in 4th), went to the bathroom. Then the darn est thing happened.... It stopped raining. I looked at Steve and said "i'm going back out" he responded with " you're really going back out aren't you" followed by "don't do it" haha. So i headed back out and realized after a while that the course was drying up nicely.

Still kinda tricky on the climbs but over all not bad. I would turn another lap before i saw that Jesse and Justin had called it quites and were watching from the start, finnish. I would complete three laps after the rain delay and headed out for a fourth which most likely would have moved me from 9th, where i finished into 6th . But as my chain would have none of it and once again decided to leave me chainless and clueless as to why the new chain keeps breaking, i would have to deal with 9th out of 31. The worst part of it all was because of the rain the mosquitoes were out in full force and there mission was to suck me dry. I was surprised they were able to find me seeing as how i was covered in mud and felt like Arnold from predator. I wish i had a chopper to run to, instead i had to settle for a campsite off in the distance. So i picked up my bike and cyclecrossed it through the woods to the safety of open space. After i got back to the race site i talked to Justin who said it might not be the chain, could be the D hanger. So I took it in to my bike shop and they confirmed that it was indeed alittle bent. After getting that straighted out and spending all day cleaning and waxing the war machine my hopes are high once again for a day that i will cross the finnish line chain intact.

Looking back I'm glad i did the race, i had fun. My back still hurts but not as bad as those guys with the fully rigids i'm sure : )

9th place
6 laps
5:01:21 time of last lap completed
6021 # plate
Performa Cycling
Ben Neubauer


23-May-09
0:36:59 lap 1

23-May-09
0:38:06 lap 2

1:15:05 total time

23-May-09
0:46:38 lap 3
2:01:43 total time

23-May-09
1:29:08 lap 4
3:30:51 total time

23-May-09
0:45:17 lap 5
4:16:08 total time

23-May-09
0:45:13 lap 6
5:01:21 total time

little bit of this and a little bit of that

I woke up Thursday and said to myself "i need change today" So instead of busting out the tank of a bike i use to get to work everyday, i ran instead. It was a great morning for it. I wore a fanny pack to keep my lunch in and away i went. After 13 mins and just under 2 miles i was at work and ready to start my day. The run home was warm but nice just the same. After walking in the door i decided that wasn't going to be the last change of pace thing i would do on this day.
So i went into the garage and loaded up my car with my brothers kayak and headed a few blocks east to the lake. Now as far as i know i've never done this before and it showed. As i was trying to get into the small skiff i almost fell into the water about four times right in front of some fishermen whom at least pretended not to notice. Once finally in i found myself wondering why i didn't bring my fishing pole but there's always next time, and besides today i was after a
work out. It took me awhile to figure out what a smooth stroke felt like and before i knew it my ABS and my shoulders were feeling the burn. After about 15 mins i made a turn and realized that the wind + kayak= hard/wet work out. I pushed it for another five mins before i took a break. Time for some food. I reached for the raisins only to find that they had gotten soaked and tasted more like grapes again then rasins. I paddled around for alittle while longer and called it quites after 39 mins. The trip was a success, I had fun doing something new and got a good work out in as well. After unloading the car i figured i might as well go for a quick ride before my softball game. I went for a short 20 mile ride and more or less just tried to hold my LT which feels really low for some reason. I start to feel it around 157 HR . I'm sure some of this has to do with the amount of stress i've been putting on my body lately but i hope it goes up soon.
After the ride it was time for the softball game. A big W was a nice way to end a great day.
I must have really tuckered myself out, i didn't even wake up in the night to use the little boys room.

blowing off steam

At the end of my work outs i like to ask myself "did i do enough today to win tomorrow?" and with some pent up frustration on my side stemming from Iola, i headed to high cliff by bike for some hill repeats. When i got there i saw that i was not the only one with this idea which i found to be very helpful. The other biker had shaved legs so i figured he must mean business...right ; )
My plan was to do 15 hill repeats and then turn around and ride back to O town. This started out pretty well and before i knew it i was on my 15th repeat and had passed the biker twice. But while i was on my way down from my 15th i noticed that my bair legged buddy was on his way up, so i couldn't help but shoot myself up the hill once more in hope of catching him for the third time. By that point i was pretty cooked and about half way up the hill i realized that it was going to be close. So i mustered every bit of bennie i had left and pulled ahead of him with no more than 20 yards to the top. I did feel kind of bad passing him like that but he didn't seem to mind. And after all i was just doing my work out.
After my ride back down from the 16th repeat i decided to let the wind carry me back to Oshkosh, i love a tail wind after a hard work out.
After parking the two wheeled torcher machine, i checked out what i had achieved on my garmin.
I rode 65 miles and some change totaling 3:40 min of saddle time and alittle over 8 miles of climbing. While drinking a recovery drink i thought to myself "Yes, i think i did enough today to win tomorrow" That thought was quickly followed by "Gosh i miss Tennessee"
The end.
P.S. The search for the camera continues

wors #1 equals war between wrongturn and stumpie

The first WORS race was today, it took place at my least favorite course Iola. The day started out on the wrong foot from the start. During the warm up i noticed alittle hitch in my shifting but it seemed to be just in my big ring and being that it was pretty much race time i didn't have a ton of time to fanagle with it. As luck would have it my chain was randomly shifting and skipping pretty much right out of the gate but mostly on the climbs when i would put all of Bennie into my pedal stroke, know what i'm sayin' ? uh huh , yeah thought so. I got through the first lap in a decent time all things considered and little did i know that a team mate was hot on my tale, none other then the matter of shoes. Jesse and i went back and forth for the next lap or two before he took off for good. Shortly after i lost sight of Jshoe i snapped my chain. Seeing in how it was the last lap thoughts of running the rest of the race out was nested in my head but there was a bunch of single track left and i thought better of it and called it a day.
Have you ever read or heard that you're not supposed to change things on race day with out trying them first? I have too but that didn't stop me from changing a few things. None of which are going to be taking place before or during next race. The list is as follows.
1. shaving legs (never again)
2. going with out my camel back
3. tuna instead of peanut butter before the race
4. not pre riding
5. showing up later than normal to the race site
Not that any of those things led to my chain breaking or my bike riding like crap but i'm superstitious, i mean after all i was a baseball player.
I didn't get to see all of the results but from what i heard Performa had a good first outing. Good job guys and gals and i'm looking forward to seeing you all again at Wors race # 3

P.S. if you haven't figured it out stumpie is my bike.