Afton and the "bike fund"

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I'm just cutting back because I know that I'll have a bunch of winter/pugsley posts coming up soon : ) I can't wait for the snow to start flying. Speaking of which I better get registered for the Arrowhead. Registration is open so come one come all to the greatest race on Earth! Greatest that I've had the priveledge to participate in at least : )

Well I survived the 24 Hours of Afton. Only one crash, that wasn't too bad, and some numb thumbs. Try saying that 5 times really fast : ) The course this year was the best ever in my opinion. It just seemed to flow a lot better than previous editions. Still lots of climbing though. You're either climbing or flying down a rocky, rooty descent. Fun stuff. Anyway, I finished the race with 11 laps. I'm not sure exactly what place I got yet. Waiting for the results to get posted. I was in 11th place around the time of the finish, but I'm not sure if anyone went out for another lap or not. I don't think I was any lower than 15th if that's the case. Very happy with that result. Leaves a better feeling than 24-9 did that's for sure. The race went well for all Brown Bears. Trent surpassed his all time record for laps at Afton with 7, and Brian had 8 "just taking it easy" laps : ) Great job guys! A BIG thanks to our solo support crew of Tonia and Mario! Tonia is the best solo supporter around! It was nice to see Dick and Alane again too. There are some nice pictures that Alane took on the TBB blog. Thanks Alane! Here are a few more pictures from Trent and Tonia. As well as a couple I took. Enjoy.

Number 838 for the 8000 this year.

The VeloPlush saddle is the new must have Selle Italia : ) Very comfortable. Thanks again Rick! The new Anti-Monkey Butt powder sticker is a nice touch as well.

The best pit crew at Afton, "Sleepy Sally" and myself : ) I gotta get one of those winter jackets that Tonia has on.

Mario doing his best "Snoop Dogg" impression.

The number one 24 solo race tip - Sleep while eating : )

Brian was getting delerious in the middle of the night. He took off all his clothes to "cool down". Yeah right. He just wanted to show off those sweet thigh tan lines : )

Trent was enjoying the show! You never know what you'll get to see at the Team Brown Bear pit area.

They were both all smiles the next morning : )

As for the "Bike Fund" reference at the beginning of this post.... It has been replaced with something much much better : ) Look below!

24/9 weekend

Last weekend was a lot of fun even though the race didn't go as well as I had wanted. Kind of makes me want to push it at Afton in a couple weeks : ) We'll see what happens. That is one brutal course. Talk some sense into me Brian and Trent.

Some highlights of the race were: Seeing fellow bloggers, laughing so hard on Friday night that I got a painful case of the hiccups, watching Paddy crash an expensive looking off-road version of a Segway into a fence, breaking my seat completely off the rails and finding out that compulsive over-packer Rick had indeed packed a spare, getting cramps in both the backs of my legs and stomach at the same time, listening to Dallas and Endurosnob puke their guts out, getting lapped by Eatough 4 times in seven laps, and many more that I can't think of right now.

That's what's most fun about these races. It's not just about riding your bike, but all the friends and memories that are made. Awww : )

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Enjoy.

Lemans start. I took it easy on the run this year. Definitely felt better to start slow.

Even Rick couldn't resist running : )

Trent getting going on his first lap.

Some of the Brown Bears between laps. From left to right: Brian, myself and Rick.

Jen and I went to Madison after the race and stayed the night with Brian and Heather. We went and toured the capitol building and the Trek factory on Monday. Thanks for the tour and putting us up for the night Brian and Heather! It was fun!

My little mouse of a wife. She loves her cheese : )

We stopped in a little gift shop on State Street in Madison and found this cool little jar. I think it's a sign that I need a new bike for next year : )

I'm here. Just been busy unpacking and at work. I'll get some pictures of the race up later today. Until then Brian pretty much summed up the weekend for me. Later.