Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Shawano Race Report

We headed up to the Shawano Cabin a bit late of Friday since Ty had to drive down to Lake Front Brewery to pick up beer for the team this weekend. After packing the truck we hit the road about 7:30PM. Neither of us ate dinner and the thought of Cousins Subs sounded fab at this point. Heading North on 41, we exited twice to go to Cousins after seeing the sign on the highway only to find no cousins after driving for two miles in the dark, UGH! We drive a little further and Ty suggests Bublitz family Restaurant. We exit again off the highway, park and walk into a restaurant that is only serving until 9:00PM. The time on our watch is now 8:40PM. I asked if they were still open, the manager looked at us like you have got to be kidding and then smiled as he sat us promptly. The place looked a bit worn but we were so hungry by now we did not care. I was a bit skeptical about ordering since the kids that worked there were already preparing to clean up and get out. I ordered a hamburger and as I guessed, it was served cold. The waitress asked if she could get me another one. She came back and told me they closed the grill. Lucky me, I got a microwaved burger.



Off to our destination again only to find the the map was taking us too far South on 22 and we were headed towards Clintonville. JHC! We stopped along the side of the road once we hit near Main street in Manawa. We parked along side this street to look at our Atlas of Wisconsin. It is now about 11:30PM. I hear a voice out my car window coming from inside a house where we were parked. They said to us, "you are here". Then the voice said, "move along now" WTF????



A four hour drive up from Milwaukee that should of taken 2.5 hours was insane. Google and Map quest were both in the trash by the time we arrived at half passed midnight. It was pitch black outside and all we had was this tiny flash light to find the key to the cabin that was hidden. After searching for about ten minutes, no key. Then we went to another area where there is the second key, no luck. After a few calls to the owners cell phone, I got no answer. I went back to the area again and searched and I finally found the key, what a relief. Now we can relax! We had a beer and hit the sack by 2:00AM and slept in until 9:00AM.


Saturdays pre-ride was not marked at 1:00PM other than little pink arrows. I went off on my own and did the front loop three times before April's husband told me I had to cross the street. So I did cross the street and completely missed the tunnel. I kinda found my way somehow by following some others across the farm field. I was not impressed nor discouraged about this section of single track. It just did not seem to flow to well and it had those darn moguls that fit a 29er tire, that were way deeper than the moguls at the 2007 Rhinelander race. The dirt was a bit loose. The forecast for Saturday afternoon included rain, and it sure looked like the possibility of it, but it never happened. This made for more of a baby powder effect in some areas of the single track.


After getting back to the cabin, peeps were rolling in, one by one. Some of them mentioned even after 5:00PM the course was still not marked.




Everyone had time to relax Saturday night and watch the beautiful sunset






Matt attempting to make boiled noodles Gourmet style



Regina before or after the beer spilt in her dinner.

Finally a good dinner with friends to top off weekend.
Cabin Pics here
and here


Jerry is checking out just how far he has to duck.






Watching the Sport Race






The start lead us through the bowl which reminded me of a short track course.



Thanks to Amy D for and Greg Kreiger for the great race photos.




Warming up with the Red Baron





I was feeling good heading into the hole shot. The course was set up so that we would do one lap out front which was about 15 minutes and then four laps across the street after you enter the tunnel. Then back across the street for a lap backwards to the finish. Talk about trying to remember all this before a race after riding the course the day before that was not clearly marked, YIKES! I guess you could call it a figure eight type of course.

http://www.jp3photo.com/p822398963/h106c2119#h106c2119 The highlight of my season, priceless!

I had a great race and tested some new territory. I have to say I may of sucked a wheel only once for about 1/8 of a mile the entire race. The most exciting part of the race for me was being upfront for a bit. At this age I will take all that I can get :-) The girls laid down a really good pace and keep it up consistently, which is quite impressive. The single track got pretty baby powder like with each lap. At some point on one of my laps I biffed it trying to impress the comp men of my single track skills :-) Later on I found out from Marcum it was a nasty little root hiding on that corner under all that fluff.






Crossing the finish line knowing I used up the tank.


Girls Love Dirt!

Now you know why they call him Dirty Uncle Ty.



Top 5 Fast Women of the Day!
Congrats to Regina for her first race in expert. Hopefully she won't get bitter because of the very few idiots that are out there on bikes. I think we should be allowed to carry squirt guns during a race :-)
Also kudos to MK for her top five finish and Amelia for scathing a podium spot too!






















































Thursday, September 25, 2008

Saving for Retirement

The safest place in the market these days

Breaking the barrier

In this past week, I have heard great stories of of a few people who have broken the mental barriers they inflicted on themselves, and took charge of their destiny. I can't tell you how difficult this is for many people to overcome obstacles that continue to get in their way and they still persevere onwards. Kudos to you all!

One such story is a patient of mine who has heart failure and is only thirty something years old. Top that off with obstructive sleep apnea, high blood pressure, obesity and depression. I have not seen him in over six months until yesterday. He had a smile on his face this time, he has lost 50 lbs since February by diet and exercising on the treadmill. Already he has had some improvements in his health. I had good news for him, his blood pressure is controlled and the pump function of his heart (left ventricular ejection fraction) is normal. I think if he keeps this up, he may be able to turn things around and may not require oxygen at night when he sleeps. I can't tell you how exciting this is to actually have a patient make some excellent life style changes for the better!

Monday, September 22, 2008

True Blood (HBO)

I got hooked after one episode. Check it out if you have HBO. Modern day vampires ROCK!

Last Days of Summer







Thursday, September 18, 2008

Room available










Main Vacation House has a beautiful view of the lake, 1 bedroom on the first level with a full bath and 4 bedrooms on the second level, with a full bath and sleeps 10.








$20.00 a head for Saturday night. Pasta feed 6:00PM, bring sauce and noodles to share.





Alterrra peeps rented this house on the lake for the Shawano race. We can have ONE more peep to stay with us. Call me if your interested. Rented for 8/26 & 8/27.



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

close to home

Not much going on around here other than getting ready for the season change. With fall just around the corner and cooler evenings brings a chill to my spine and I tend to think about hibernation. Well not that bad but at least getting ready for whats next. Since Ty had business projects to mend this past weekend I put some energy into cooking. I do love this time of year when it comes to making all those warm and delicious, tummy melting foods that your body craves on a cool rainy night. So I made two huge pots of chili from scratch. The first pot was turkey chili and 5 peppers which will be ready on Friday. The longer it sits, the better the flavor. I had enough left over for two containers to freeze. This will be a nice treat after a cold night out riding or getting stuck in the rain. The second pot of chili is Ty's favorite white bean chicken chili. Well it's not all white bean, I have added black beans too to spice it up. That pot is already demolished. Next on the list is butternut squash soup, my favorite!

I am looking forward to the next race. This past weekend with all the rain and then missing Cheq Fat Tire, it's been pure misery as far as riding. I was so excited to hear the results of the Cheq Fat Tire on Saturday. I called Tammi's husband to see how she was doing since it was her first year racing the fat tire. I could hear in the background the anouncer calling off names as the riders came in. It was exciting to hear about everyones race and how it played out. I think I texted about 20 people, silly me. I wish I would of been there to take pictures. In fact... I still think it would be more fun to do the short and fat race and then have time to take pictures of the 40 miler finishers. That's just pure fun for me I guess :-)

Oh and I forgot that I need to learn how to jump barriers if I am going to race cross this season. The new bike is still sitting in the basement and I only rode it for about 2 minutes so far. I know there are cross practices going on in the area but it always conflicts with my work schedule. Is anyone out there interested in teaching me, or should I just learn how to bunny hop :-) Top that off is I will race unattached since Alterra is not listed as a VELO Club? What ever that means, I am such a rookie about cross racing. Raced once on my MTB and got lapped several times. LOL!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Congrats to all the Cheq Fat Tire Finishers

Skinny Ski has some awesome photos of the event




check it out here

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Friday, September 12, 2008

Pain Train

These boys showed me around town last night. The temps at the start of the Alterra ride on the east side was perfect, 70 something. The threat of rain was in the forecast but it looked like we headed in the direction of blue skies. We had a few rookies join us last night Greg and Brandon but after ten or so minutes into the ride you would never of known. Brandon got out front right away and took the lead riding like Lance Armstrong and never let up. I think he pulled almost the entire ride which was good for him but nerve racking for those who came out to do a moderate ride. Never the less... it was a good work out for all of us. Thanks guys for letting me hang and reeling me in :-)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Who's it gonna be this year?


Taking all $5.00 bets

Monday, September 08, 2008

Smokin Spoke 2008

Thanks to Elvis and his crew for the warm hospitality and putting on a great event for WORS # 10 at camp Tesoma in Rhinelander. Some newly added single track for the COMP/ELITE race added even more excitement and beauty to the race course.

The anticipation of storms held off for quite sometime and the start of the race day was pure sunshine and fresh northern air.



Top 5 FAST WOMEN




Top 8 Fast Men










Citizen and Sport start Pics here





Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Monday, September 01, 2008

Laborious Weekend

This weekend it was my turn to get a few things finished off our to do list. One of tasks included priming and painting the screen windows. About two months ago I sanded these and then put off the painting part. Saturday was a perfect day for painting. Funny thing that I noticed is that people love to watch others work.




Saturday night we joined a few peeps for drinks at the smoke free Sugar Maple Tavern on the fashionable South Side.





Good times with old friends and Fat Tire






Soon to be Mrs Phillips enjoying a tasty brew.







Monday morning more work at the Kettles with these three gals.








We stumbled on this huge pile of lumber on the trail.




Regina was contemplating riding over this mound.


It felt good too cool off a bit in the shade.




This gal busted in on the ride last minute, did not know what she was getting herself into.


I managed to get many chores accomplished this weekend and spend time with family and old friends made for a perfect Labor day weekend.