Ladies and Gentlemen, your Over the Hump Expert Class Champion Jason Rusnak! BALLER!

Decided to sit this one out and shoot some pictures. Was great seeing all my friends out there racing while I watched for a change!  Be sure to read more of this post and enjoy all the pics!

Well, another OTH race is in the books. This time around I pulled my first DNF. I haven’t rung the DNF bell in over a year and this would mark only my second ever. What happened? A couple miles into the race, the course descends down a very steep, loose hill that makes an immediate right at the bottom. After completing the section, I continued down the singletrack and suddently felt a hand grab my shoulder. Next thing I felt was my body hit the dirt as I watched the douche that pushed me pass on by. I thought OTH was suppose to be a “fun, family, friends” sort of race league? The fall caused my chain to snap and flat my rear tire. After fumbling with the bike for 10 minutes I decided it was time to throw in the towel. 10 minutes out of the race on this course and you are pretty much guaranteed dead last. I walked my way back to the pits and decided I would forget about it, shit happens and karma’s a bitch. He’ll get his for being a jerk.

Jason was out shooting pictures tonight but didn’t get any of me. No shocker there considering I was only on the course for about 10 minutes. The above picture is my friend Jason Rusnak who is currently leading the Men’s Expert class and kickin butt! He looked strong again out there today and I am sure did well. I think I am going to come out next week and throw some dirty looks around at the guy that pushed me. No, I won’t be trying to get revenge, jerks of the world always get whats coming to them one way or another. I am out there to race with my friends and have a good time. See you all next week, I will be rockin my Team Duke jersey, a great organization and great group of people who appreciate it when I support them.

Once a week I dedicate one day of my training to an “anything goes” day. Today was that day which left me boggled what to do. Yesterday, I ran 6 miles so I knew I wanted to get on the bike. But which? My friend Allison suggested I ride the CX bike and combine road, dirt and some cyclocross fun! Good idea!

Before I continue, I just want to say a big congrats to Allison for making it to the 2010 Mountain Bike World Championships!

(photo from Allison’s site)

I would also like to congratulate my friend Sonya for placing in the Top 30 at the 2010 Marathon World Championships recently in Germany!

(photo from Sonya’s site)

They are two seriously FAST women that I have the pleasure of calling friends. Keep kicking butt girls!

Around 4pm I hoped on the bike and headed towards Whiting Ranch. The more practice I can get before I actually try racing cross, the better. Before jumping into the dirt I continued down Portola in hopes of finding new dirt. I keep hearing about this remote control playground in the area but have yet to find it. I did some exploring, which lead to climbing a bunch of hills, but no magic land. Oh well, searching for new dirt is always fun and I get some extra hills in.

Two immediate things I noticed about riding this bike through Whiting are; skinny tires don’t take to sand well and there is much less gearing on this bike compared to my mtn bike. They say CX is all about pushing your limits, right? The lower sections of Whiting gave me plenty of time to practice dismounts, mounts and running with the bike. I used every sand section as a practice area. It turned out to be quite the anaerobic workout.

Before reaching Cattle Pond, I ran into this detour sign. While taking the new route I tried to make out what was wrong with the old trail but couldn’t see a thing. Climbing up CP was easy enough but the descent was, how do I say, amusing. As most of you reading this know, the descent is rather bumpy and this was my first time coming down it without a front shock. Bump bump bump bump bump weeeeeeee down I went.

With that behind me I tackled Mustard. The climb was easier than I expected aside from some rear tire skidding along the way. Pretty tough to stand and climb on this bike with super loose terrain. Next time, I’ll try lowering the air pressure a little and see if that helps.

Up and over Mustard I continued up heading towards STT. I thought about hitting STT but when I looked at my phone, it was already 545pm. Seems all that wandering I did before Whiting took longer than I thought (didn’t bring my Garmin along). I made my way down the the street and started heading back home when I ran into Jeff doing his daily jog. I rode next to him down El Toro and up to his house giving me a bonus climb for the day. I need to do MORE rides like this, no Garmin, no agenda and plenty of aimless roaming. Ahhhh…

First, sorry for the blurry picture. Immediately after getting home, I mixed up a bottle of Ultragen Recovery to do some replenishing. The Orange Creamsicle flavor is delicious and I have definitely noticed a significant improvement in my recovery time since using the 1st Endurance products. They aren’t cheap, but often you get what you pay for.

I want to thank the guys again at Team Duke for sending me some schwag! Team Duke is an amazing organization that benefits the John Wayne Cancer Foundation. The orange and brown colors are awesome and come on, how many of your jerseys rock barbed wire!

Disney 1/2 Marathon Update

So, some of you may be wondering how my running is going for the upcoming Disney 1/2. Well, I can say that everything is going as planned. I have been running 2-4 days per week trying to put in at least 15-25 miles a week. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but remember I am also riding 4-5 days per week. Often, I am doing both on the same day. I am aiming for a time of under 2 hours 20 minutes. If I can get anything near 2 hours flat I would be pretty damn stoked. The event is Sept 5th, if anyone wants to come out let me know!

A year ago this month, my friend Tonya got me interested in giving cyclocross a try. You probably don’t remember the post I did showing me fumbling around trying to practice dismounts, so I am not even going to bother digging it up! A year later, I got my hands on another loaner bike wanting to give it another go. This time around, I was throwing my leg over a MUCH nicer bike, unfortunately it’s a bit small for me. My Roubaix is a 56 and this S-Works Tricross is a 54. Now, a lot of people recommend trying a smaller bike so when I heard about a 54 available, I grabbed it. After work today I was able to give it a good solid spin around Tijeras Creek, Arroyo Trabuco, Ladera Ridge and parts of Chiquito. This route leaves straight from my front door providing plenty of everything, fire roads, singletrack, pavement, climbs and descents. I don’t have much CX experience but I can attest that the amount of abuse you can put on this bike is glorious. I still consider a CX bike basically a road bike with meaty tires, even though I understand (sorry to the CX gods out there) it’s a completely different machine. Considering my feelings, tossing the bike around rocks, over stream beds, through sand pits and down ruts just seems odd. The bike took a licking and kept on ticking! My S-Works mountain bike is definitely more stable but not nearly as fast. I flew through the flat sections  4-5mph faster than on my mtb. I was slower on the descents though, getting used to descending on rough terrain in drops with rim brakes is a bit nerve racking.

About half way through the ride, I practiced dismounting the bike at speed trying to simulate race conditions. Definitely went better than last year! I sure hope I can find another bike when race time comes around, I definitely want to give it a go.

Not much else to report, oh, I have been spending the end of my days here… So nice…

I have to give it up to Finish Line Citrus Degreaser tonight, this stuff kicks ass. This is the cassette on my bike that was completely a mess an hour ago. You probably saw some of the photos of the bike I posted the other day. If you didn’t, spend some more time on my blog would ya! Not only did this stuff work in getting the cassette clean, it required NO rags. I sprayed the degreaser on, let it sit for about 10 minutes and rinsed it off with water. Viola! Now, I imagine if you never clean your bike and your cassette looks like tar, you will probably need to do a little scrubbing. I was able to get the MTB and ROADIE both clean within an hour looking like new.

Aside from my cleaning mission of the day, I put in a solid 2 hours on the SS. My legs are cooked and in desperate need of a rest day. Fortunately, that’s on tap for tomorrow. I am going to get myself a massage tomorrow to really take advantage of my rest day! Can’t wait!

Recently, I have cranked up my training a bit. With the Disney Half Marathon looming and my desire to get more involved in Endurance events, I needed more. So, I decided I would double up the amount of training I have been doing at least 3 days per week. Bringing running and riding together on the same days has been kicking my butt, BUT that is exactly what I need. I have also added some mild weight training, and trying to get to yoga. I’d really like to do some SS events which means I have a lot of work I need to put in. There’s goes my social life (well aside from bike friends).

Hey, to all of you that actually read my blog, do me a quick favor if you can. Do you like the blog as it currently is with my Tumblr feed attached? Or, do you prefer the old blog layout more focused on just MY stuff? I have been thinking about turning the site back to what it was or maybe something along the lines of Rachel’s site. Thoughts? Opinions? Anyway, if you have a free 2 minutes please leave me a comment. I’d appreciate it!

My morning started out like most with internal alarm clock waking me at 7am, which lead to me hitting my internal snooze button over and over until about 8am. I had planned a good two hour morning road ride session but the later it got the less motivated I became. When I finally made my way to the garage, my excitement grew because being on the bike is one of the few things keeping me happy these days. I was headed out for a quick spin through the canyon which is a good cruiser two hour ride. Getting going my legs were a little tight but eventually opened up and things got moving. I made my way to Jamboree in around 45 minutes making excellent time. I felt fresh and decided to head down Jamboree and come back around Lake Forest. Well, as I reached Portola, my legs kept telling me to go go go… so off I went. I took the familiar Mtn to Sea path down to Back Bay and a bit further. My turn around point would be at 51st street in Newport Beach. A spot I used to frequent often over a decade ago.

I continued to mash the pedals pretty hard on the return home, averaging around 18mph over the entire ride. As I made my way back up Jamboree my legs finally started to feel cooked. I began to fear the ride back through the canyon knowing it would provide another 14 miles and 1000ft of climbing. The final part of the ride was definitely a bit slower but I pushed on. I wanted to feel exhaustion, I wanted my legs to hurt, I wanted to be SPENT. I attacked the last hill before home as hard as I could. Standing and grinding my big ring up and over. I was thankful to be done and looking forward to getting some chow. I got in some good post ride recovery fuel and then made myself some chicken and veggies. Between yesterdays climb and today’s spin my legs are definitely feeling it. Time to relax for the night.

Hope you got out and rode today! or run! or hike! or did something outdoors it was a beautiful day!

Sorry I have been vacant the past couple weeks my friends. Since returning from Idaho, I have been rather occupied. No vacancies if you will in my current schedule. In April, I signed up for the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and the date is encroaching rather quick. Needless to say, I have been doing a good amount of running trying to put in as many miles as I have time for. Sadly, my Brooks Adrenaline shoes have been the cause of a rather annoying foot pain. The pain has been inconsistent which has constantly left me boggled as to whether the pain derived from the  running shoes or possible my bike shoes. After this past week, I have concluded it’s definitely the running shoes. I purchase all my shoes from A Snail’s Pace Running Shop in Laguna Hills, California, so I can keep track of the various shoes I wear and they have a record of what works for my style. I will be visiting them Monday with the shoes to get their opinion of the problem I am having. Previous model shoes never left me with pain so I am hoping I can get into something new that works, quickly. The new shoes will need a few weeks break-in period before the 1/2.

Aside from running, most of my bike time has been spent on the road. With a hectic schedule, finding time for the road is often easier than dirt. Both the running and road riding have helped me shed a few useless pounds from my body leaving me feeling rather strong lately. Today, I was finally able to get a good dirt climbing ride in and I have to say, I felt great the entire ride and still fresh at the top. Cyclocross season is upon us and I would REALLY love to try it but I cannot afford another bike right now. It seems like CX could be a great outlet for me, the perfect combination of dirt and skinny tires. Maybe I can find a loaner…

Anyway, today turned out to be a rather good day for me. The morning started off selling various old bike parts at the Fullerton Loop Swap Meet. If you haven’t been to one of the swap meet events, keep an eye out on STR for the next. Great place to find some amazing deals and not just crappy broken parts. I was able to sell a good number of items, helping create space in my garage, which is always needed (usually for more bike parts). Later in the day, Jeff and I headed up to Santiago Peak (Saddleback) for a little climbing session. We had a good ride, made good time, and the MD left it’s dirty mark on us as per usual. Can’t wait for the temps to cool off so I can spend more time on the MD training (did I just say that?).

Selling goods at the Fully SM

Jeff’s Stumpjumper parked at Four Corners

It puts the dirt on its tires…

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow morning will be spent spinning the road bike wheels. Getting her ready now, night.

Last night I returned home from an epic adventure into Idaho watching one of my best friends marry his best friend. I had the honor of being Ryan’s best man at his wedding in Sandpoint, Idaho. Ryan has been truly blessed finding a woman like Jen to share his life with him, they are the perfect couple and had the perfect wedding. Instead of flying up, Ryan and I loaded up his truck and headed for the scenic route through NV and into ID. I took so many pictures over the past two weeks I could only share a fraction. The pictures were taken with either my Iphone or Canon S90, you should be able to tell which is which.

Most weddings start right here, in the “Bride Binder”.

Getting the truck ready with maps, logbook, some snacks and my trust Iphone.

Sure, we had GPS in the truck but it’s way more fun navigating the old way using maps! We took the slower scenic route directly through the center of the state (green highlight).

When we made our way into Idaho, we followed the blue line on the left also traversing the center of the state nearly to Canada. Sandpoint, is only 42 miles from the border. We put in a good 22 hours of driving to get there.

Most of central NV looks like this, dead, dry, barren and dull. We had a very important stop to make on the way which is why we didn’t pass through Vegas on our journey.

Yup, FIREWORKS! Every year Ryan and his Dad put on an epic fireworks show for all of their friends in Sandpoint and this year would be NO exception. Ryan and I stopped in Parumph, NV at the Phantom Fireworks HQ to pick up over $4,000 in goods.

Yes, that is cart number two we are filling up and yes that is Ryan grinning ear-to-ear!

Borderline ridiculous!

We actually got worried loading them fearing we wouldn’t have enough room.

Even the backseat would get filled, the wedding dress almost didn’t make the trip! (kidding Jen!)

Back on the road and more of the ever-so-exciting NEVADA! *snooze button*

Just outside Tonopah, we did pass this interesting automotive art display. Apparently, the locals stick whatever they can find to these vehicles or maybe people passing by do.. we weren’t sure.

Passed a few small towns along the way that server as rest stops for the Vegas to Reno Off-Road Race.

Funny, I can’t find my magazine at home in the middle of Orange County but I find it front and center in Goldfield, NV population 344.

I am convinced this tunnel is a time warp. At one end you leave the dry, dirt filled haven of NV…

and on the other end are welcomed into the gorgeous state of Idaho!

Suddenly, we were driving along side a gorgeous river, green fields and some amazing railroad tracks.

Making our way  along the river we spotted this dam and had to make a pit stop.

What happens when two off-road guys find a dirt road? Shortcut!

Making our way to Boise

After 15 hours of driving, we stopped at the Hilton in Boise, ID. The rest was very welcomed.

Leaving Boise we made our way through the Idaho 55 highway which was nothing short of spectacular. Lush green pastures and rivers.

It’s hard to believe this state is connected to Nevada.

We passed some seriously cool historical buildings.

Saw plenty of white water rafters out in numbers!

And then we passed this… 5 hours of the lushest green and yellow fields you have ever seen. This is my current desktop wallpaper. You can click on this and all the images for a larger version. 5 hours of endless pastures and NO CELL SERVICE. It was awesome!

Did a quick iphone shot with the Panorama app when we landed at Ryan’s parents property in Sandpoint. They have an amazing compound! Main house to the right, race shop to the left. This is the Rose family after all!

Sandpoint is surround by Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced Pond Oray), a great spot for fishing, camping, water craft or just sitting by a fire enjoying the view. This is a shot from the Rose dock and was my morning view for two weeks out the bedroom window. It could be much worse…

View from the dock of the house

Ryan prepping the Seadoos for fun!

Like Father

Like Son… if I ever wondered why Ryan is the way his is… it was all figured out in Idaho. Ryan and his Dad have exactly the same habits!

The first week was spent mostly working on getting the house and dock ready for the wedding and 4th of July. We did a good amount of cleaning, welding, cutting, drilling, wood working, you name it! It was a lot of work but well worth it to make Ryan and Jen’s weekend perfect.

Lucy aka “Red Dog” taking a break from her afternoon snooze

My last desktop background image… ahh yes

This was me every morning before the others got up…

You were probably wondering what those metal/rubber things were. Well, in order to keep the Seadoo’s on the dock we had to fabricate new mounts for the Dandy Dock’s to hold them. Ryan’s Dad’s last design didn’t hold up to all of the rolling wake coming off the lake over time. This year, he added some resilient tire rubber to the mix in hopes it would hold up. Let’s hope next year it still looks this way!

Yup, that’s a lot of fireworks!

Ryan giving the Seadoos a go!

If you don’t like it here…. something is wrong with you!

The Rose family has a tradition of sharing amaretto sippers with the sunset at night… Gotta have moose glasses, right?!

One of Ryan and Jen’s favorite stops in town is McDuff’s Irish Brewery. Its the ONLY brewery in town and as you can see from the “locals only” mug wall, it’s popular.

The Rose and Emde families coming together…

The first week it was only Ryan and I until Jen arrived prepping and cleaning. When the remainder of the wedding party arrived is when the fun began! First stop was dinner at the Klondike. It’s a small stop that looks like a shack on the side of the road you would probably never stop at if you didn’t know the owners. Not only do Ryan’s parents know the owner, they named the Roland Chicken Salad after his Dad, Roland! It’s a great salad too just what I would order.

Setting up the arch on the dock. Not a bad place to get married. This is also where Ryan first told Jen he loved her and where he proposed. You killed it my friend!

Friday night was wedding rehearsal time and dinner. A few knuckleheads even showed up!

Jeff and Jana made it

Jenelle and I made it

Bama and Jeff made it

Joanna and Cameron made it

Ryan’s sister Sara, daughter Haley and brother-in-law Rick made it

Roland and Kit made it… If you two read this I cannot thank you enough for letting me into your home for two whole weeks. It was an amazing experience I will never forget!

Yes, Gabe and Sam made it too

Brandon and Caitlin made it

Don and Tracey made it as well

The night ended with storms looming… would wedding day be blessed with good weather?

Ryan’s Mom made this entire blanket by hand and embroidered the entire wedding parties names on their own square. What an amazing amount of work!

Since I was in charge of the rings, I made sure to snap a quick pick of them on the dock. Ryan put floaties on the rings just in case someones hand slipped. They were getting married over water remember. Ryan had the GPS coordinates of the dock engraved on to each ring. You da man Rose!

The boys doing a pre-wedding shot for luck!

Dressed and ready to do this!

As if you couldn’t tell, Ryan is a fire fighter and so was his Dad.

They had the groom figure match Ryan’s work turnouts and well as hair and eye color. The bride matched Jen’s too. Ryan truly rescued Jen’s heart…

Allow me to present you with Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Rose! WOOHOO! YOU BOTH ROCK! CONGRATS AGAIN!

Dale making it official. Andrea and I were privileged to sign as witnesses.

The Roses taking in their first dance with their parents watching closely

You damn right they cut the cake with the hatchet!

Get some!

Oh you like that do you!

Bouquet toss for the ladies

Gee, I wonder who’s girlfriend caught it? haha you’re next Bear

Hanging with the Rose’s before they left for the night

As if the start to the fairytale wedding wasn’t enough, they left showered in sparklers on the boat to sail over to the lodge for their wedding night… a truly amazing day… yes, I cried…

Well, this is definitely the longest blog post I have ever done now and I am not done yet! The next day was the 4th of July which meant the annual 4th party at the Rose compound and FIREWORKS! It also meant it was time to play on the lake and use some of those water toys we had. Brandon, Caitlin and Derek loaded up on the “hang-on-thingy” as we called it for some high-speed toss and turn fun!

There they go…

And over they went!

Ryan showing us how to skurf board!

Sorry Rose, I had to share this picture. This is Caitlin giving Ryan a ride on the Seadoo. Yes, that just happened. lol

I didn’t snap a ton of pics on the 4th, was too busy hanging out and enjoying the festivities. I did snap a video of the middle section of the fireworks show. This is just a small sample of that boat load you saw earlier. What a great show!

Monday morning the crew headed to the Hoot Own for breakfast known for their gigantic proportions. I didn’t make it but they brought me back a cinnamon roll the size of my head. haha

It was a long two weeks that left me with a ton of great memories, smiles and thoroughly exhausted. I opted to fly home and catch up on work considering Ryan had company on the way back. It was an amazing vacation that I will never forget! Thank you Ryan and Jen for allowing me to be a part of your best day!

Another Over The Hump race is in the books! Race 3 went better than race 2 did for me. I felt great and the bike was moving fast. I still finished much slower than most because I am still racing a SS against geared bikes, but that should change next week. Looking forward to racing head-to-head with the geared guys on a geared bike!

The OTH guys decided to run the course backwards this week, which made the course MUCH faster than before. The long climb at the start was cut in half and separated between a flat and fast downhill section. This made the climbing, even though the same amount, seem easier. Unfortunately, the second climb was rather steep and not pleasant on a SS bike. I dismounted and ran up the slope as quick as I could even though I hate having to get off my bike. This is a geared bike course, it’s mostly flat and extremely fast. If you plan on coming out next week, be prepared to go balls out for an hour, basically.

Thanks again to Jason (HighRevPhoto) and Chris (DoEpicShit) for snapping some shots of me. It may be hard to tell but I am actually in the air in the shot above. There is a nice little jump coming off a flat section you can catch air on if you’re moving. Next week, I should be able to fly off it. Fun!

Jason got another great snap, this time making it look like I was going really fast. Thanks Jason!

Chris caught me doing my version of a shout out for our friend CeeDubb. He finished the Vision Quest last year on his SS with a similar pose. Sadly, he couldn’t make this race but I hope to see him next week! Right Dubb? If you aren’t having fun even during a race why even ride the bike!

Coming around a short climb I was able to pass up a couple fellow competitors and Chris happened to be right there. Good timing! Did you guys need some more gears? Thanks again to Surf City Cyclery for the support!