Not much to report on the race for me. Wasn't feeling the best at the start. Felt really great about 10 miles before the Gateway store. Rode hard and fast till Gateway. Ran inside filled bottles and took off with Greg Ames. He dropped me shortly after, and I felt like crap from then on. No power = not enough heat being generated. Sun was setting. Got really cold. Changed into dryer warmer clothes. Came upon Sheep Ranch Road which I knew headed to Highway 53. Road that for about 15 miles before Rick picked me up and took me to Melgeorges Resort to have a great meal and watch the race unfold. The highlights of the event were a presentation on the Alaska races from Mike Curiak. Hanging out with all the really fun people that put on and participate in this race. and winning a Pugsley frame in the prize drawings at the race meeting. Everytime I do this event I go home humbled and inspired by my failures and others feats of strength. I can't wait until next year!

Let the games begin! Headed out the door for the 5th Annual Arrowhead Ultramarathon. Follow along starting Monday here if you wish. Later.

Weekly News I'm famous! Mr. Farrow has a great series of posts he just started doing called "One of my worst days out there." His second story is about your truly. Thanks Charlie! In other spectacular news: Mr and Mrs Abraham had their baby girl! Annabelle Sage Abraham. Rumor has it that Henry and her are going to have an arranged marriage one day : ) Congratulations Abrahams and Henry!! Lastly there is a Blizzard Warning out for the next day. Snowing pretty good now. We'll see if it amounts to anything by tomorrow. Might have to camp out tonight if it gets cold enough. Or at least get out for a ride with G Ames. Until next time.....

Top Secret training ride #2 complete. Fitness is ahead of schedule. Went out with top secret government employee to an undisclosed location. Rumor has it that he just might sign up for the AH135 by the Dec 1st deadline. Now all we need is some more snow. Looks like Lance Andre got a new snow bike! Not quite as big as Dave Yearwood's monster bike though. I'll have to try and get a picture of it this winter. I've also perfected the art of walking on water over the Thanksgiving holiday.

First TOP SECRET training ride in the books! Clearance smearance : ) I heard G-Ames is going to sign up for the AH135. Pat, will you be there this year?

Just registered for the Grand Daddy event of 2009. Arrowhead Ultra! Registration ends on December 1st. Get yours sent in ASAP. Should be a great year. Predictions are for a ton of snow. I've been off the bike since Nine Mile, so I'm good and rested. Time to start the TOP SECRET winter training regimen : ) So far I know that Charlie is in and The Mangan is out. How about everyone else? Who's gonna be there? Not that anyone reads this blog anymore since I haven't updated it since June. I've been busy being a Dad to little Henry, and just taking it easy. Lot's of time on Facebook. It's the new blogger anyway I guess. Uploading pictures is a lot easier and quicker too. Look me up. Lots of pictures of our little man. I'll try and post more often on here as well. Until next time check out the new dream bike. I really like the name. And here's Henry getting some hours in the Helicopter so he can come rescue my undertrained self from the Northwoods of Minnesota in February : )

Setting Sail on the RA300 - a sail would've been perfect for this race : )

There was a good article in this month's Adventure Cyclist. It was about how when you are young and have few responsibilities. How easy it is to just pick up and go for a long ride or tour. But, as you get older and have more to worry about. How challenging it can be to leave home. This article rang true for me as Rick, Gabby and myself left Grand Forks on Friday. It was very hard to leave my new son and wife to go do a race in another country. But as we got closer to Portage La Prarie I was thinking more and more about the monster that is the Red Assiniboine 300.

Last year at this race I made it to the halfway mark, and after leaving on the second half, I was caught in a nasty thunderstorm that had me lying in a ditch hoping I wouldn't be hit by lightning. As we got to the hotel this year it was pouring rain, and the wind was howling. Not a good sign before a race that is challenging enough without mother nature adding to it. Fortunately on Saturday morning the sun was shining, but the wind was still doing it's thing.

The race started just after 8:00am with Lindsay leading everyone out in his van. I stayed near the back of the group. I didn't want to get caught up in trying to hang on to Blair Saunders and the other fast guys like last year. I told myself to just go my own pace and see what happens. After about 50km I was competing for the course sweeper position. I wasn't feeling very fast at all. The mind was starting to play the "Let's quit, what's the point in riding this far anyway" game. That's when I caught up to Nathan Barten around Rathwell. I was pretty sure I was done for the day, and had Rick been there with the van, I would've called it quits. Thankfully Rick had gone futher up the course, so Nathan and I decided to stop for a double cheeseburger with fries and gravy at the Diner just off course. It was sooooo delicious. Nathan talked me into at least riding to the first checkpoint in La Riviere. We took off for the checkpoint. The rolling hills started, and the wind was relentless. Nathan rode off ahead on his super lightweight fixie. I caught up to Mike Harrison just before a wind farm. We yo-yo'd a little bit, and even stopped to take some pictures of the impressive wind turbines. Then I rode on ahead into the headwind alone. Somewhere along the way Nathan had gotten off course a little and I passed him in the process. Just before getting to La Riviere, there is an impressive section of gravel road. It runs along the Pembina Valley. Beautiful country in Canada. I had to stop and take a couple pictures. I always kick myself for not stopping to take pictures during races, so I didn't pass this opportunity up. I rolled into La Riviere around 5:30pm I think. Rick's daughter, Gabby, signed me in, and Lindsay bought me supper. Another hot meal in the belly. Mmmmmm. I spent about two hours there eating, talking and trying to come up with a good excuse to call it a day. But, Lindsay said I looked strong and wouldn't have any of it. So with a little encouragement I headed out to the second checkpoint at Rock Lake.

I had to stop and take a picture of what must have been Lindsay's school back in the day : )

Mike Harrison and the wind farm.

Pembina Valley just before La Riviere.

Climbing out of the Pembina Gorge towards Rock Lake I started to feel pretty good. The wind had also died down which I'm sure had a lot to do with me feeling better. I put the hammer down "Vino style" and flew into Crystal City stopping only long enough to get a Coke from a pop machine. I downed the Coke and headed out just as fast as I came into town. The sun was starting to set, and there was a good sized thunderstorm on the horizon. As it started to get dark I went to turn on my light, but it didn't work. So I just kept riding. Making sure to have my rear tail lights on and stay way to the side of the road when a car would come. Not to long after total darkness I could see a red blinky in the distance. I gave chase as fast as I could go in the dark. Eventually I got close enough to see it was three riders, and they were just turning on to a steep downhill. I turned on the jets and came flying up to them just at the bottom of the hill. They hadn't seen me behind them since I didn't have a headlight, so they were pretty startled. It was Cory Smith, Tomec Jasiakiewicz and Jay Hawranik. We all rode into the Rock Lake checkpoint together at 11:35pm. Blair Saunders and John Hawranik were still there. The checkpoint was at Kenny's lakeside cabin. What a guy! He had chili on the stove and enough Coke to open a convenience store. It was great! Lindsay was there as well, and was really happy to see the other three guys I rode in with. It seems they went 20km off course with the wind, all down hill. After realizing their mistake they had to ride back uphill into the wind those same 20km. Ouch! Tomec and Jay decided to pack it in at Rock Lake after that mishap. Cory and I packed up, reloaded with food and batteries for my light (THANKS JAY!!!!), and headed out for the remaining kilometers at around 12:30am.

Cory and I rode very well together. Keeping a fast pace, and stopping at each turn to make sure we were still on course. The night was cold with very little wind. The valleys were filled with bone chilling air and fog, but the climbs out of them warmed me up quickly. Just around sunrise I started fading, and Cory rode ahead. I was getting the same sore shoulders and neck I had at the Arrowhead. I slowed way down, and even walked for a short while. Finally I was close to Portage La Prairie again and just went as fast as I could back to the finish at Don Sisson's farm. It was 8:20am. Just over 24 hours for the "regular" course. I was very happy to be done. Don gave me a ride to the hotel and I had a little breakfast and took a nap before the awards BBQ.

What a great event. Lindsay put together one heck of a course. The volunteers and checkpoints were spectacular. Thanks to everyone involved!!! I highly recommend checking this race out next year. And hopefully I'll see Lindsay and Dallas at the Arrowhead in February.

When I got home I was checking my e-mail. I get these quotes of the day from the Foundation for a Better Life. The quote from this weekend was very fitting and reminded me why I love to do these types of races.

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for"
-William G.T. Shedd (1820-1894)

Heading to the RedAss 300

(pictures from official 300 website)

Follow along here.

Trent and the Dike (a dirty little tale)

Trent and I went on a brutal gravel grinder this morning. Fresh off his late night training sessions in the Twin Cities with Brian last weekend, I knew I was in for one helluva ride. Trent has been instrumental in my preparation for the RA300 next weekend. This was the last chance to get in a good workout before the taper. We headed west on a gravel road not too far from my house. Into a slight headwind we pushed on for what seemed forever. Then we turned south for a few miles until we found a rutted up minimum maintenance road. We plowed through the muck dodging four wheeler ruts and shotgun shells. Finally we came to a dike that brought us back home. It was super soft from the recent thunderstorms, and full of horse hoof holes. Trent was happy he broke in his new ride with some mud and horse poo : ) We ended up back at my place for some much needed coffee. Great ride Trent! I'm ready to tackle the Manitoba wild next weekend. Here are a few pictures from the ride.

THE END

Random thoughts

It's official. I registered for the Red Ass 300 on Sunday. Registration closes on the 31st so Trent and Brian better get moving : ) I wonder how their Minneapolis ride went? The RA300 should be a ton of fun again this year. I can't wait.

After that I'm looking forward to Nine Mile and Afton. Gonna keep the schedule pretty light this year again.

Putting in some sod on Saturday. That should be fun. Not to mention good upper body training. Hopefully it doesn't rain as forecasted. After that I just have to talk Trent into building me a deck : )

Henry is growing up fast. Dallas should have a little one not to far behind. Good luck on becoming a daddy Dallas! Are we going to see you at RA300?

Here's a picture for all those requesting one. This is Henry's "poop face"

Sunday morning coffee rides have begun! 35 miler with Top Gun and Trenty. Good ride guys.

Maverick

You've got a bogie on your tail!

Highway to the Danger Zone!

24 Hours of Labor

My wife is the new 24 hour champion of my world! Over 24 hours of labor on Friday night through Saturday night into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Henry David Simmons was born at 12:47am on Sunday April 6th of 2008. He is 8lbs 5oz and 21 1/4 inches. Jen and Henry are both doing great. Later.

No baby yet! I'm gonna try and rub some ankles and feed Jen some spicy Squez food. If nothing happens after that..... I'm going in : ) I'll keep you posted. Later.

Bench Building

Trent came over yesterday and helped me build a work bench for the garage. Now I can play shop mechanic and really mess up my bikes : ) Oh well. I'll just have to have Fox Cycle Repair fix my mistakes when he comes through town. The bench was fairly easy to make. Especially since Trent did most of the work. He let me touch his tools a couple of times, and then said I need to get my own : ) Thanks to Trent for all the help. Thanks to Brian for the plans. Here are a some pictures of the project.

In other home improvement news. The baby room is pretty much ready. He's due for arrival on Thursday, but maybe we'll have an Easter baby. You never know. Here's some more pictures for the soon to be Grandmas.

Bike shops and Baby rooms

I was thinking of building a work bench right below where the bikes are now. It's a two stall garage, and we only have one car. So, there's lots of room for a home bike shop. I need to finish insulating and dry walling it though.

The baby room is almost complete. We got the crib all cozied up, and built a bouncy chair, swing, stroller and play pen this weekend.