NOTE -- We had a request by a reader to hear about some of the Training that some of the Salsa Crew and our sponsored riders partake in. They will be coming throughout the next couple weeks. --
Most of my miles, 6000-plus a year, come from commuting to and from work daily. The rest of my miles, an additional 2000 to 4000 come from training and racing endurance events.
In the fall/winter timeframe the commute is slow and steady. I’m focused on maintaining fitness and making sure I’m getting plenty of rest for the spring events. Typically March 1st is the start of any structured training miles. The weather starts to break and we get some days above freezing. In addition to the 160 commuting miles for the week I’ll add in a big Saturday, getting 60-100 miles in depending on route and weather.
At the end of March comes The Cannonball Run. This is a 160-mile training ride that includes a run south to the Cannon River Valley for some big climbs in and out of the river bluffs. Mid-April starts the race season with the Ragnarok 105, a 105-mile gravel road race with roughly 7000’ of climbing. It’s always interesting to see who has or has not been getting their base miles in. Ragnarok is a warm up for Trans Iowa.
Trans Iowa is a 320-mile gravel road race of biblical proportions. It typically takes place the last full weekend of April. Two weeks after Iowa is the stellar Almanzo 100, the second 100-mile Minnesota gravel race of the season. Between the spring events, the weekends are all rest time, unless of course the mountain bike trails have cleared up. Once the season is in swing my focus is on recovering after events, keeping fitness, and building speed.
No year is like the last. Each year I seem to get a little more focus and a slightly better understanding of how my body reacts to the stresses of racing and riding. If I have a focus event ahead of me, like the Tour Divide or the Trans Iowa, I make sure that my fitness and recovery is tailored for them. I’ve gone into events without a good amount of rest or preparedness. I can definitely tell when my head isn’t in the game and my body isn’t up to the challenge. Unfortunately it has taken a few poor performances to learn it.
My methods are a bit ad-hoc and in some ways unorthodox. I’ve always wanted to hire a professional coach (it would be worth more than any gear I could buy), but I’ve never committed to doing it. Mostly because I’m not sure I would be willing to follow their direction and advice.
We've sponsored the Salsa Two-Four In Support Of MORC for the last 3 years. This year's event has really taken a step forward to becoming the bike, art, and music festival that we'd hoped it would eventually become. Massive props to Amanda from MORC for her work on this event. MORC runs it. Salsa sponsors it.
Here is some of what is going on: FREE endurance racing clinic, Friday Night DH Race, 24-Hour Racing, 8-Hour Racing, Bike Games With Salsa, Homemade Salsa Competition & Tasting, Artists Displaying & Selling Bike-Related Art, Live Music, Food, Bonfires, Camping...
And here is the kicker...aside from the racing, this is a FREE event! C'mon out and take part even if you aren't racing! For more info visit Salsa Two-Four
Wednesday June 16th, 2010
| 2 Comments | Kid Riemer
Last evening we put on Ride The Divide to a packed house of 533 enthusiastic cyclists/movie-goers at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis. What a fun night.
For me, it served as another reminder of what a great bicycle town Minneapolis is...towns really, as I should include the other half of the Twin Cities, St Paul as well. We have an uncanny ability to bring all sorts of cyclists from 'different' pursuits together.
Of course, a theater with most of the seats full doesn't make a film good. No worries there. I heartily endorse the film Ride The Divide. And I'm sure most of last night's audience would agree. It presents a delicate range of emotions and draws you into the lives of three racers, while also introducing the random cast of characters made up of those living along the route. Throw in spectacular scenery and a nice soundtrack to boot. Make sure you see Ride The Divide. You won't be disappointed. If you can, see it on the big screen so you can really soak in the big landscapes.
Special thanks go out to our Joe Meiser. Joe finished the 2009 Tour Divide race and was gracious enough to let us present his slideshow of the experience. It was a perfect warmup to the main event. Thank you Joe. It really added to the experience.
Special thanks also to Erik Mathy of One Gear, Once Cause who flew in for the event. We could only give Erik a few minutes to speak but he did a great job of quickly presenting his message that 'ordinary people can do extraordinary things and help make the world a better place'. Erik will be competing in the 2011 Tour Divide and you can follow his preparations on his website. He is also willing to help coach you if you have a passion and are interested in trying to help others. Contact him through his website.
And of course, thanks also to all who came out for the film last night. You helped raise just over $2300 for Erik's charity. Well done everyone. I hope you enjoyed the night.
Erik Mathy isn't the kind of guy who talks about doing something...he's the guy doing something. His charity '1 Gear, 1 Cause' will be the recipient of the proceeds from Salsa's Minneapolis showing of the Ride The Divide movie. We thought you'd like to no more about him and his charity.
Kid: Tell us a bit about yourself?
Erik: My cancer saga started long ago. My Dad has lost 5 brothers almost a sister to cancer. When Uncle Richard, who was the first, was undergoing treatment it was Dad who spent weeks at a time with him. He'd take Uncle Richard to treatments, stay with he and Aunt Gerry, help out, cook...whatever was needed. It's what Dad has done to a greater or lesser extent for all of them, the most recent being Aunt Jackie in Seattle. I learned from his example. When people you care about are in need, you don't think. You do!
There isn't much I haven't done at this point. I've ridden from Seattle to DC for the American Lung Association to fight lung cancer. I've coached in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team In Training Program. I've helped run almost all the signature Lance Armstrong/Livestrong bicycle fundraising events from 2000 - 2009. Somewhere in there I've found the time to do the Great Divide Route (GDR) on a motorcycle as a cancer fundraiser, start raising my son and established a career as a geek.
Now it's time to saddle up once again for a trip down the Continental Divide. This time on a singlespeed bicycle, but as always to fight cancer.
Kid: I know you are originally from the glorious city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, but now live in not-too-shabby San Francisco, California...in 1000 words or less, describe the differences between those two cities?
Erik: I can do it in one word: Huge!
Really though, there are a great many things that I love about both Green Bay and San Francisco. Green Bay is a really friendly place with, at least to me, a small town feel. The farm fields and woods are gorgeous! It's flat but the wind coming off the Bay makes bike riding there challenging. That and the farm dogs. They help you work on your sprints! My family is still there, along with a great many childhood friends. I visit as often as possible.
San Francisco is almost the exact opposite. It's a big, cosmopolitan city with everything that comes along with it. The diversity is massive! So are other things like crime and pollution. There is always a trade off, you know? Being right on the Pacific Ocean it's got all the wind that Green Bay has, plus tons and tons of climbing. If you don't mind getting (very!) wet, you can ride year around here.
Kid: The Great Divide/Tour Divide route is not unfamiliar to you. Please tell us about your experience with it.
Erik: My cousin Scott Brendemihl was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in November of 2005. I found out on Thanksgiving in fact. At the time I was working in motorcycle shops and had the GDR in mind as a possible dualsport motorcycle trip. Scott's diagnosis changed that. I immediately decided to do the GDR solo as a cancer fundraiser for Livestrong, aka Lance Armstrong Foundation. The fastest time at that point was 11 days total for the 2,500 mile course. I made five days my personal goal with a start date in late July of 2006. I used a 1996 Honda XR600R with a Baja Designs street kit. My only backup was a satellite phone along with a passenger van being driven by my friend Poll Brown and my Dad. Every day I'd come off the trail somewhere around the 200 to 225 mile mark. Poll would gas up the XR. Dad would shove a PB&J in my hands, refill the hydration pack, give me fresh gloves/goggles and I'd be rolling in five to ten minutes.
We raised around $4000 for Livestrong and made the five day mark. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life.
Kid: What was the hardest thing about that motorcycle ride?
Erik: I was always on that ragged edge of disaster. When you're exhausted, riding 10 - 14 hours a day and going that fast it's easy to make a mistake. It's a simple matter to get lost, crash (which I did, once and yes, it hurt), break equipment, miss a stop point, you name it! There are a million variables that need to line up. At 25mph - 75mph offroad, they come fast and furious! You have to make huge decisions in a split second. The ramifications were being lost and late (best case scenario) or dead (worst case scenario).
Kid: How did you feel when you completed that journey?
Erik: Exhausted. Relieved. Triumphant. Full of incredible joy and love. In shock, really, that we'd pulled it off! Also sad and determined. On that last day Dad informed me that Uncle Lou had been diagnosed with cancer. We'd won a battle, but the war was still raging on.
Kid: You are preparing to take part in the 2011 Tour Divide race. Do you feel like your motorcycle experience on the route will help you much?
Erik: It will and it won't. At the very least, I feel like I know what the course has in store for me on the GDR portion. That takes a great amount of the guesswork out of it. On the other hand, things that were a fun on the XR600R are a huge source of concern on a bicycle. The infamous Great Basin is the best example. 140 miles of high desert. There may be water, there may not be. You never know. On the motorcycle it was amazing! I rolled through that thing in 5th gear, standing up on the pegs pretending I was racing in the Baja 1000 or Paris Dakar. It was incredible fun!
On the bicycle? Man! Don't even get me started on the 200,000 ft of climbing either, OK?
Kid: Why singlespeed?
Erik: Why not? OK, that's not an answer.
I've been riding singlespeeds for a long time now. There was a stretch where the only bike I had built up was a singlespeed. You just get used to them, I guess. I love the simplicity, the efficiency, the elegance of a singlespeed. And, of course, the challenge. My buddy Andrew always harasses me about my penchant to chase after Tough Guy Points. He's right, I can't deny it. I love the challenge!
Plus there are the tales of mud and mucked up drive trains from Joe Meiser. Singlespeeds don't worry too much about that. There is WAY less to break!
Kid: All of this boils down to your 1 Gear, 1 Cause effort. Tell us about it, how it started, and what you hope to accomplish through it.
Erik: For the last three years I've been the National Powerstop Coordinator for the Livestrong Challenge fundraising series. It was an amazing experience! After three years, though, I needed a break. It was time to stay home for awhile.
Yet I couldn't not do something to fight cancer. It wasn't possible. So I've decided to revisit the Tour Divide in 2011! My trip in 2006 was on a single cylinder motorcycle. The symmetry of going back on a singlespeed bicycle was too much to resist. Plus, as I stated earlier, I love singlespeeds. Doing it on a geared bike really never crossed my mind as an option.
I have several goals that all lead to each other. Physically, it's to finish. Not because I am super fast and want to win the thing. That's obviously not what I am about. I want to finish in order inspire other people to do something extraordinary for the world they live in. I want to give hope to folks who don't have any. I'm here to tell you that hope is worth more than anything to cancer patients and their families. It's completely intangible. You can't weigh, touch, see or smell it. Yet, for all that, hope is key to surviving cancer. If I can help give hope and maybe inspire some folks to do the same? Mission accomplished!
Kid: What would you like to say to all the people that happen to stumble upon this post?
Erik: I'd like to encourage everyone who is reading this to make the world a better place. Pursue whatever you are passionate about! It's my firm belief that every day folks like us can do extraordinary things for causes we believe in. In fact, we have to! It's nice when some famous person jumps in and all, but there are a few thousand of them to millions upon millions of us. No matter how rich or powerful they are, our superior numbers trump. If you hate cancer as much as I do, join the fight! If your passion lays in ending hunger or homelessness? Awesome! Get out there and get to it!
Be like my Dad and don't think! DO!
-------
Erik's charity 1 Gear, 1 Cause will receive the proceeds from Salsa's Minneapolis screening of Ride The Divide. The screening is Tuesday, June 15th at the Riverview Theater. Attending the show means you aren't just in for a fun night and a great bike flick, but you are also helping fight the good fight against cancer. Advance tickets can be purchased online and are the only way you are guaranteed of having a seat. Tickets at the door also cost more so buy your seats now. Click the logo below to purchase. Wondering what Ride The Divide is all about? The film's trailer is also below.
Yesterday, Jay Petervary sent over a few photos from he and Tracey's record-setting tandem ride during the Tour Divide.
This photo (courtesy of Tracey Petervary) was taken of Jay and Joe Meiser as they pushed their way up the connector trail on the new section in the Flathead area.
Certainly looks glamorous, doesn't it?
Thursday, we are taping the last of our Joe's Great Adventure videos. We thought we'd open the floor to questions.
So if you've got something you'd like to ask Joe about his experience in this year's Tour Divide, respond with your questions here and we'll work the best of them into our interview.
Joe's Tour Divide has been quite a journey. It seems like only yesterday he started in Canada. Now he's in New Mexico with just a few days left. Here are few thoughts, obersvations and predictions on Joe's Great Adventure. These are observations. Please do not confuse them with fact.
- I believe Joe is the only rider riding a drop bar rigid mountain bike. Personally I can't imagine doing 2700 miles on a flat bar.
- Joe has overcome some big obstacles thus far. We figure he's had at least 26-30 hours of time committed to working on his bike or waiting for parts after his mud, derailleur and derailleur hanger incident outside of Lima. He also did a frame swap in Steamboat, CO at Orange Peelz (Our great Salsa dealer).
- Despite Joe's set backs, his spirit seems good. This is the Joe we all know.
- Joe has caught the lead chase group. I think there are 6 or 7 riders in a pack right now. I predict that on one of these last days in New Mexico, Joe will attempt to make a Trans Iowa like day and pull away from the pack. We are predicting a 5th place for Joe, 4th if call out individual riders and put he Peterverys in their own crazy classification. Not bad considering the 30+ hours of bike work.
- If Joe get's 5th, it looks like we will have 2 Salsa's in the top 5 placing. Kurt is riding a Dos Niner and Joe is riding a Fargo. Both bikes are equiped with custom frame bags. Joe's are from Eric at Epic Designs. I'm not sure about Kurts.
Lastly, we can't wait for Joe's return so we can hear all his stories. We hope to share some of the best of them. Stay tuned.
If you've been following the Tour Divide and our man Joe Meiser, you know he's doing pretty well right now. Well...Joe's race just got interesting. The weather has been rough at best. From the sound of the call ins from his two riding partners Chris and Kurt, today involved tons of mud and pushing. Joe hit a brutal section going into Lima and had some critical mechanical issues. He's limped into Lima today and is staying there. After some bike work he expects to be back on route tomorrow. Other than this little tragedy, he is feeling great. Look for our man to head out as soon as possible. Go Joe!
Thursday June 11th, 2009
| 6 Comments | Kid Riemer
I just got off the phone with Joe who was gracious enough to call and let me 'grill' him the afternoon before the start of the Tour Divide. What follows is a rough notation of all that he had to say. Apologies to Joe if I get any of it terribly wrong.
Joe said travel to Banff was pleasantly uneventful. No problems with flights or the shuttle bus he took from Calgary to Banff. He did say the shuttle ride was through some truly beautiful countryside.
He says it is great fun to be with all these people that have come from all over the world. He met two guys from Ohio, one from Toledo and the other from Cleveland. Joe grew up in Michigan, not far from the one fellow.
There is a rider who shipped his bike to Banff...and it has not yet arrived. Terrible news for that person.
Joe was a bit surprised that some folks did not really have their gear dialed in yet, and are frantically trying to figure out where to mount cycle computers and other assorted gear.
Joe on the other hand said his stuff is ready to go, so he has been trying to relax. He said he spun around town for 20 minutes today and hit a grocery store. Said he can feel the altitude a bit and feels like his heart rate is up. He doesn't monitor his heart rate on a regular basis. There is a BBQ tonight that serves as the pre-race meeting and allows everyone to meet and mingle.
He said it is cool to see the different bikes and gear setups that folks are using. He's heard that record holder John Nobile isn't carrying a sleeping system and is intending to find shelter when needed. Joe agreed that he is probably carrying a minimalist emergency blanket at least however.
The weather today in Banff is gorgeous, but calls for some rain showers at times tomorrow.
He said there is a lot of talk among various riders of trying to break 20 days.
My understanding is that this year's course is taking a new, off-road route through the Flathead region. Joe said they still don't have the cue sheets for that section but are told they will receive them tonight. He's a bit nervous about that. He's been told that there are people out there flagging it today.
All in all, Joe said his nerves are good. He said he's had trouble sleeping today but has forced himself to lay down and just stay still for 20 minutes at a time.
He said he's excited and that it is a great group of people readying themselves for this adventure. He met two folks from the United Kingdom that have done the event before and have returned to do it again, bringing with them a few more of their countrymen. He said all the Brits are on 29'ers.
Tomorrow morning at 10 AM Mountain Standard Time the Tour Divide 2009 is on. Joe said he expects the race to break into several big pieces right from the start. There is a place to get some food 60 miles down the trail, and then it is something like another 70 or 80 miles to the next town. Some folks are aiming at 130 miles or so tomorrow, but he said some others are looking at more like 160.
What will Joe do? We will see tomorrow.
Joe, in case you are reading this tonight at an internet cafe or on a borrowed laptop, everyone here wishes you the best of luck. There has already been too much internal debate as to whether you will ever wash your shorts during this adventure...but I encourage you to do so if you get the chance!
Rubber side down! Ride safe! Enjoy the journey! -Kid
Thursday June 11th, 2009
| 0 Comments | Kid Riemer
During the last few years, there has been an unquestionable rise in interest in 'ultra' style cycling events. Not that long ago, these events often went unnoticed. There was little opportunity to 'follow the action'.
That really seems to have changed recently. The internet, blogs, podcasts, SPOT trackers, GPS units, sat phones, and other technological advances have made 'coverage' of long distance, remote races possible in ways that we never would have imagined not that long ago.
Like it or not, these advances have made it possible for us to watch what's going on. It turns a multi-day mystery into a multi-day event we can all enjoy.
You can see that on the right side of this page we've added a 'Where the heck is Joe?' link. It provides a link to Joe's SPOT Tracker as well as to the Tour Divide Leaderboard.
I'm sure Joe has a busy day ahead of him taking care of last minute preparations. While he's doing that he's probably busy 'trying to rest'. I'm sure many of you have experienced the weirdness off 'trying to rest' and understand the difficulty in that.
A couple interesting facts about this year's Tour Divide Race. Based on the published roster, I see entrants from 6 different countries. That list includes:
Austria Canada Germany Italy United Kingdom and the United States
Within the United States, 18 different states are represented:
Alaska Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Iowa Kentucky Minnesota (Go Joe!) Ohio New Mexico North Carolina Pennsylvania Tennessee Texas Washington Wisconsin Wyoming
If you think about it, that's a pretty darn diverse list in a field of 41 racers. We wish them all a safe and fulfilling adventure.
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