2011 - Its on like DonkeyKong

after a year Hiatus to have our Santiago- I'm back in the saddle for the 2011 race. the race has been pumped up to August 12-13th this year. Also last year they changed the start time from Friday at 5pm to Saturday morning at 10 am, and they added a handful of categories.

2011 has been the wettest year in my memory- GREAT looking Grass and garden but very little MTB miles. Luckily for me I did get my Salsa Pistola ROAD machine put together this Spring so I've been pounding on the road miles. I also played in about 15 soccer games in two months so that has helped the fitness levels.

2011 the goal is to Ride the 8 hour race and be on the bike the entire 8 hours.....is it possible- oh yeah. the first race i ever did took me about 6.5 hours. it was roughly a 60 mile trek through Milaca in about 2001 or so.

its coming SOOOOON!

13 laps is the goal its july 9th i've ridden a combined 11 miles of trails this year. No racing and hardly any training. Weight is still pretty high although i've been playing soccer about 2 times a week i think my conditioning this year will be miles ahead of previous years.

Right now I have 7 weeks to lose about 15 more pounds and get about 800 miles in!

OH Sh$T! - UNLUCKY 13

Well the date is SET for this years Madness! August 28-29th! as of right now i'm going to get really ambitious and say that i'm shooting for UNLUCKY 13 laps this year! that will dominate my previous 10 laps from 2007!

Keys to Success:

I'm going to be commuting to our new office starting in March,
Monticellos reopened 16 miles of trail.

1. Afton Avalanch May 31
2. Bluff Riders Charge, Mt Kato, Mankato, MN - June 28
3. ER race July 26th

Helpful Hints for 2009

Okay so I stupidly wrote prophetically in the official Afton Notebook that I'd do 12 laps next year. well that will mean a few things. 3 laps in a row to start and 3 night laps before 1 am. then sleep til 6 am, do 3 laps before 11am. take 2 hours off and do 3 laps between 1-5pm. can this be done. i think it can be it will just be horrific.

things I learned this year.

1. take a break at picnic table after shady lane
2. make sure a meal is ready at each break time
3. have bike workign 100% before leaving
4. hit Afton, lutsen, elk river and others atleast 5 times before race
5. practice riding more at night.
6. make sure there is enough lights for 6 hours
7. have pit crew
8. salt tablets
9. good night sleep
10. Oreo goes to Cabin for weekend(so we can sleep upon return
11. 2 way radios Faith, Mariza and MONTE will need to be pit crew

let the Clock begin 24 hours!