February Update

Training is going well. Getting in some good rides and staying healthy. Look down on the right side of the blog. You'll notice I updated the 2010 calendar. I'm pretty excited about hitting 6 of the 8 NUE series races and Fools Gold will be a first for me. Being on the road during the weekends and working during the week takes it's tole pretty fast, so I have to try and ration out my road trip efforts. I'm glad to see the NUE schedule is spread out pretty well. We'll see if I have one more road trip in me to hit Iron Cross in the fall. It's such an epic course and I'd love to return there and have a good race.

I'm also excited about heading to Boyne in July for the Boyne Marathon. It's one of my favorite courses and a great time to get up North and enjoy the beauty of Michigan. And of course who could forget Iceman. 2010 will be my 11th one in a row! Has it really been that long!? I'm starting to feel old. Peak to Peak is slowly growing into it's own Michigan classic and I'll be back again going for the three peat!

Not too much longer and I'll be able to start commuting on my bike again. That will be nice. As for now, I'm slowly ramping up for the Spring races on the calendar. Barry Roubaix is an instant favorite, and I'm planning on returning for another go at Paris Ancaster to prepare for the first big race in the NUE points series, Cohutta. So stay healthy and get ready to race your bike! It won't be long. See ya next post.

Stuff For Sale

I have a pair of 26" Velocity VXC wheels. They're the standard 32H disc hubs. The website has a claimed weight of 2060 grams. They're brand new, never taken out of the box. $300 or best offer takes them. Great set of spair wheels to train on. They come with Skewers too. Here's a link to the website with the info. email me: mikesimonson at hotmail dot com

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=522

January Update

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated. Well, 2010 is well underway. I'm all fixed up with Gary Fisher again for 2010, as well as Notubes, and a couple new sponsors this year with SRAM and some help from Crankbrothers. With this combo, I should be able to make one of the lightest, most bad ass 29ers on the planet!

The training has been going pretty well. I got a nice block in over the holidays with little Stewy, and with the MLK holiday and my regular Friday off, I'm working on another big block this week. I switched over to the paved roads instead of my typical dirt rds as the dirt is still pretty moist with the higher temps. Art's keeping a close eye on me and trying to keep me healthy as possible. He's been a great coach, and a great friend.

Looks like Barry Roubaix will be the first race on my calendar as Southern Cross was postponed to a later date I can't make. The beird will have to grow till March now. I'm full on for the NUE races starting with Cohutta. I was also thinking about Dirt Sweat and Gears 12hr in TN too. Lots of cash there up for grabs.

On another note, I turn 30 years old this week! Egads! I always said I was going to something crazy for my 30th, but I'm not sure I have the energy for that right now. I'm still recovering from New Years... thanks to the Collins' ;-)

Well that's it for now. Stay healthy and get ready for another awesome season of mountain biking!

Mileage Wars

Nothing like a good old fashioned mileage war to keep us motivated as the winter season draws near. I had a good week going with all the commuting I did over the week. Rumor had it that Robert Herriman held the working mans weekly milage record at 488 miles. We both decided to make a run for it over the weekend in a little gentlemans bet. 65 miles on Saturday, and another 65 on Sunday had me at 500 miles by noon with a bonky Herriman in tow. He left my house and headed home with 40 miles on the day and roughly 415 for the week. I had done it! I stole the title! I thought Herriman didn't have a chance. I topped His bottles off with Gatorade and stuffed a GU in his jersey and sent him on his way. Little did I know I awakened the milage beast from depths of Mordor.

Later that night as it was dark and nearing bed time, I got a text message. It was Herriman! He was still out riding! It read, "481 for the week so far. Gonna put the lights on and push for a few more miles. The ZYM revived me." He ended up with 505 miles for the week and took back the record. Oh yeah... did I mention Herriman is 49 yrs old. The guy is a milage machine. Incredible.

Off Season at the Simonsters

That's A Wrap

Well... Iceman didn't quite go as planned. I put a lot into the preperation and I felt ready. I had good legs and I even got off the front in the first section of singletrack. Then to my demise I was burried too deep going into Tornado Alley and watched the front group of 6 roll away into the distance. I should have known better than to be so far back. I put in a pretty hard chase for a few minutes, then pulled the plug. Mentally defeated I rolled along just barely pushing the pedals till I pulled off the course at Williamsburg Rd. In a split second I went from thinking about where I was going to put in an attack to thinking, oh crap my race is over. Looking back, I should have pressed on, but the truth is I expected to be in that front group and anything less was a huge disappointment and embassment for me. It was one of those all or nothing races. I didn't even carry a tube with me.

Ahhh well. It's time to kik back and relax for a while. I have a big year planned for 2010 and much more hard work and preperation ahead of me. I'll certainly be fired up and motivated come April. You can't win em all, but you can always give your best.

18 Lbs Flat

Pullin out all the stops...