Last Weekend

I finally won something at the WORS banquet. First time in 5 tries. I'll cherish that WORS wind vest 'til the end of my days.
Great fun was had on the Green Circle around Point Saturday and Sunday. Many thanks to the Peariso's for the hospitality. Hopefully their home automation system has fully recovered from my incessant prodding.

It still wasn't Epic

but I did get to ride on some new to me singletrack today. Today's target was located in Inver Grove Heights, MN at Salem Park. Much like it says in the write up, nothing technical or steep but it was fun to ride and I got to be on the MTB. Those days are quickly coming to an end this year. Then it was back to Stillwater for some supper and a Maradbous Dubbel. Delicious. The waitress also had me try the Liftbridge Chestnut Hill. Also very good. Back to the real twin cities tomorrow, Leland and Denzer.
Have you ever used the next blog button? It can get interesting. One never knows what's out there.

It wasn't "Epic"

but I did ride around the lovely White Bear Lake today. It was raining and about 48 ° outside but that's much better than riding the trainer with nobbbies in the hotel room. I got to see things in White Bear Lake I hadn't seen the 3 times I'd been here before and I liked it. I also happened upon a road sign that informed me I was a mere 11 miles from Stillwater. Now, I didn't get to take the river down there or ride a pack of dogs when I got there like Johnny Cash or Soundgarden did. I did, however, get to have a fantastic dining experience at Mad Capper. The raspberry drizzled pork loin with smashed potatoes and some fantastic toasted bread was amazing. Then there was the beer list. I opted for the Schell's Roggenbier, a fantastic wheat and then I sampled a Maredsous Dubbel . I've never had such a flavorfull and delicious beer. Where can I get some? I also sampled the TRIPLE KARMELIET and found it quite remarkable as well. It would sure have been nice to have shared this with Lisa, especially since our anniversary is tomorrow and I'll be in White Bear Lake. Alone. With myself. Oh, well. Next year will be 10 years of wedded bliss. Of course one could say that for me, being ignorant is bliss. Or something like that. Of course, it's not all bad. I can still make her laugh somedays. See.






I'm so classy.

The End

With WORS being over the house projects have become the priority for sure. My nesting instinct has been suppressed and the drive to work on house projects has somewhat diminished but I'm getting stuff done. Sheboygan was a blast, as usual. I managed a decent finish and it was an appropriate end to an up and down year.
So now it's time to try to squeeze in a ride now and again and then hit as many cx races as possible. Oh, and do all the stuff at home I put off all summer.
Lisa did both cx races last weekend as a 2, her first foray into the Big Girls races. 5th both days and I think she may have even almost liked racing. I pulled myself away from home on Saturday to do the Masters 30+ race at Badger Prairie and suffered my way to 3rd. It was the first time I did this race and there wasn't an announcer on the job. I liked the announcer. I guess job cuts have hit the cx announcers now, too. That's a shame.
So, I'm in White Bear Lake, MN. Home of White Bear Lake everything. Almost every business starts it's name with White Bear Lake and it's on White Bear Rd, Lane, Street, Avenue, etc. The hotel I'm at even has a white bear above the breakfast bar, eg. pour your own waffle and get your froot loops bar. Delicious.

Catch up

I missed a week and an event so we'll start with last weekend's USGP. Woke up at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep. Lisa was up sick all night so she couldn't race. So I started working on house projects and showed up too late for the lady to let me race even though I had already preregistered and payed to race. Hmmm. I was already grumpy and that didn't help. I was going to stay and watch the "good guys" race but my mood was too foul to let me enjoy being there. Shallow, I know. Plus Kylie had a birthday party to get to and she was anxious to get there.
Sunday started out much better. I actually slept. Lisa felt better and raced to a 3rd place finish in the Women's 3's race. Not bad for the way she felt the day before. I got my customary back row (well, 3rd to last) row start. Moved my way up and ended up 11th on the day in the Masters 35+ race. I was pretty happy with that! So the mood was better that day for sure. We stayed and watched the "good guys" and had a darn good day.
Fast forward to this weekend. Drove way up in the Northwoods to White Lake to pre ride the new venue. All the chatter was how horrible the race was going to be. Well, they were wrong. You just can't trust them, whoever "they" are. The course was sweet! Lots of nice singletrack and just enough double track to allow good passing oppurtunities without it becoming a road race. The opening climb was brutal. My start was actually not too horrible and the race went well. Lots of fun riding with Jeff M. and holding off Ray. Almost no cramping, lots of smiles. The way it should be, really. Lisa rocked a 2nd place finish in the women's race, her best finish ever. Very nice. So now she's better than me again as the best I ever managed was a 3rd. Oh well, at least I'm still taller than her.