Back to Business

Happy New Year! Michelle and I are back from Cancun. It was awesome. I highly recomend going all inclusive.


Now after a nice breather, it's back to business. It's time to get down and dirty into preparing for the upcoming season. There's a plan for every day of the week up to my first big peek in April. It's been posted on the refrigerator to remind us...


Everything is tracked in my journal down to my weight and even the hrs I sleep each night. Old Joe will help me make the necessary adjustments to my training based on my journal and how I feel. The Simonster coffee center will become vital in the comming months.



Every Sunday, Michelle and I prepare all of my food for the entire week depending on the hrs and type of training that's in the plan. It's all measured and weighed out in detail, then approved by coach Old Joe. It saves a ton of time for those extra hrs I'll need to squeeze in during the weekdays. This weeks food choices are below minus some frozen round steaks in the freezer.



Don't forget the filtered water. Only god knows what comes out of that stuff from the tap.



Of course the mid-evil torture device for weekdays.


and turbo high def and DVR comes in handy for those days where mother nature decides we won't be riding outside.



The hoopdie ride keeps me dry and comfortable out on the roads. Single speed, rigid, full fenders, 2.3" knobbies, mechanical discs... This thing can take a lickin and keep on ticken.


Trying to compete at the pro level while holding down a full time job proves to be quite a challenge. Every little thing you can do to save a little bit of time, or make training a little more convenient helps. Hope to see you out on the roads this winter!

Christmas in Cancun

Well we're off to Cancn pretty shortly here. That's right, a nice break from this god aweful winter weather here in Michigan. I can't wait! We went all out with the all inclusive package... let's just say it may take till July for my cycling season to come around after all the food and drinks are burned off. Michelle and I will be be making appearances over by the swim up bar if you need us...

I haven't really gotton into my training program for next year yet. "Old Joe" has been holding out on me... says I need rest or something. That'll be a new concept for the Simonster this year. It's easy to get wrapped up in all the all hrs and miles. So and so is doing this... this persons doing that. I think you have to really be individualized about your training. Take it day to day. Ask yourself, "what's the best thing I can do today to prepare for the season?" That's about all I have to say about that.

Here's some good Mickey/Rocky quotes to get ya in the winter training mood. If you've ever worked with a coach before, these are right on...

Mickey: You know what you are?
Rocky: No, what?
Mickey: A tomato.
Rocky: A tomato?
Mickey: Yeah, and I'm running a business here, not a goddamn soup kitchen.

Mickey: Your nose is broken.
Rocky: How does it look?
Mickey: Ah, it's an improvement.

Mickey Goldmill: I've seen wrestlers that was bigger than dinosaurs! You ever fight a dinosaur, kid?
Rocky Balboa: No, not lately.
Mickey Goldmill: They can cause a variety of damage.

29 inches, 29 years old, and 2009!

So far 2009 is shaping up to be a good year. As you may allready know, Trek has decided to pull the plug on their US based teams. I had a good season with them in 2008 and now it's time to move on. It's unfortunate, but it's a part of the business. On that note, I've aquired new sponsorship for 2009. The Michigan Trek/Fisher sales rep, Mike Shrift, and Travis Ott of Gary Fisher stepped up and came through with a spot on the Fisher 29er crew. Thanks guys! I'm really excited to be switching back to the 29" wheels. I'll be 29 years old, riding on 29" wheels, in 2009. Coincidence??? Perhaps fate brought all that together.

My weapon of choice is the Superfly. 3lb carbon frame with all the Bontrager trimmings. Bontrager is also comming out with a couple new tire choices like the XR1 which will help keep the wheels turning fast!

After a 2 week layoff with a bad cold, the winter training program is underway. My wife Michelle and I joined a local gym and I have a permanent trainer setup in the basement for getting in some time after work, or on those days where it's just unberable to be outside. My favorite movies to watch are the Rocky movies, Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars... yeah I'm a nerd.

I decided to work with a coach this year which is a first. He's a local guy and most people know him as Art. Imagine trying to tell this guy you don't feel like riding today (see pic below). I think he coached Rocky Balboa at one time, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm sure that's where Rocky learned about the running the stairs. (see pic above)

I think a viewpoint outside my own head will help tremendously to help make sure I'm doing the right things at the right times. We make a good team. Here's Art after our first training session on the stairs.

I'm looking forward to another fun season of traveling and making new friends. That's all for now. Gotta get back to the daily grind. Thanks for reading!

Iceman Aftermath

Well another one down and another season in the books. Wow, that flew by! This was my 9th Iceman in a row. I was pleased with 7th overall. I just didn't have the legs at the end going into the final piece of singletrack. The course was smooth and packed down which made it hard to break up. We had a group of 8 for most of the race. I took a few hard pulls and tried to make a few moves early which had me paying the price later once we crossed Williamsburg Rd. I got spit out the back, but somehow managed to claw my way back to the group. After that, it was survival mode to hang on for 7th. Overall, this is the funnest race for me all year. I've raced all over the country and I have to hand it Steve Brown. He's got the best event going in the country right now, hands down. And of course the Bells party is always a blast.

Now it's time to take a break from racing and relax before I start going to work on preperations for next year. Not sure what the plans are for Trek yet. I'd really like to stay with them for 09, but we'll see how it pans out. If anyone is looking to add a team member, feel free to contact me. I'm open to options. See you in the spring!

Pre- Iceman Update

Well... it's Thursday before the Iceman. Things have been going well. I've been working with Art Flemming on a daily basis trying to squeeze out any additional fitness I may have missed over this past year. I think we made some definate improvements. I decided to forgoe the cross races, and instead, we have been motor pacing in a super secret location on the weekends. I can tell you that these are the hardest efforts I've ever done on a bicycle. It takes about 4 days to fully recover. It's intense. I've also managed to drop about 5 lbs since Chequamegon by riding to work and back everyday. I've logged well over 2000 commute miles this year, and I'm still going. That alone has made a tremendous difference.

My bike is ready, my fitness is primed, and I'm feeling healthy and ready to take on the Iceman! I can't wait! Should be a tough one this year. A stacked field along with some not so nice weather will make this race one for the books.

Peak 2 Peak

There's something about racing in the fall that just gets me fired up. Maybe it's the anticipation that there's only a few races left in the season, or maybe it's just that clean crisp air. Whatever it is, Peak 2 Peak at Crystal Mountain had it this past weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect and the fall colors were peaking. Endoman promotions did a fantastic job of setting up the venue, I was impressed. They went the extra mile to make the event feel like everyone racing was important. The trail was super fun and it was a great warm up for the Iceman. Drafting seemed effective on fast flatter sections of the trail, just like the beginning of Iceman.

The start of the race quickly thinned out to 3 of us which was me, Mike Anderson, and Derek Graham on the 1st lap. I had no idea how long the last climb was, so I attacked on the bottom slopes and severly paid for it at the top where Mike Anderson slipped away with a 5 second gap. Luckily Derek and I were able to close it at the bottom. 2nd lap we traded pulls back and forth until the big climb at the end. This time I waited until the top to put in an acceleration. I got a gap, which Mike Anderson closed by the top. We lost contact with Derek on the decent, and it was down to me and Mike Anderson for the win. I took a pretty hard pull to distance ourselves from Derek. Near the end of the lap, I asked Mike to come thru. I could sense he was tired and went around him. I quickly opened up the gap and held on for the win.

I'll definately be back next year. The course is great for attracting riders from all discilpines of the sport as it seems to have something for everyone. Plus I'm also a big fan of racing on SATURDAY because it gives us a chance to still have a weekend after the race.

Stoney Creek CX

The kick-off to Iceman training has officially begun. Cyclocross is great way to get in some lung seering efforts and bring out that final edge for the end of the MTB season. This year Stoney Creek was no exception. I decided to skip the UCI race this year since they won't let me ride my MTB, so I had no prior preperation for Stoney. I hopped the barriers a couple times in warm up and I was good to go. The pace of the race was instantly uncomfortable. We hit the beach and I decided to ride it. Big mistake. I totally redlined my heart rate and completely blew up trying to get to the other side. After a bit of recovery, I worked my way back up to Tim Saari and John Card. They kept working me over on the beach every lap, until I finally copied John's method to running with the bike. What a huge improvement! John ended up having some trouble in the end which left it down to me and Tim on the final lap. I bridged up to him on the run across the beach and got around him with a ginger elbow tap. Michael Wissink and Jeff Weinart were long gone off the front and I rolled in for 3rd. It was a fun race and I can't wait to get out there for some more racing. This weekend Michelle and I are headed off to Iron Cross in Southern PA. It's a 62 mile CX race up and down 6300ft of rolling mountains. Sounds brutal... I can't wait!