Ba - La - Clava

Must #2

Pace P3 Thermal Polypro Balaclava

Ultra compact and form fitting. I have tried a many "head socks" in my past, but none are as winter proper as the Pace P3 Thermal Polypro Balaclava. It is so thin it can fit under any helmet and can sit on your face as high as the bottom of your eyes or as low as under your chin strap without getting in the way. No matter how it sits on your head, its form fitting capabilities never lets in unnecessary air flow. It is like a second skin. When placed above the mouth you will find a small hot air bubble separating the Pace from your skin only to be completely gone well before the next exhale. Now your probably saying "great, fog up the glasses". Not quite. The breathe ability of this material is amazing. It breathes just enough to pull moister away from the body without compromising its wind blocking wonders. I can wear this in 40+ weather and never over heat. When it gets down to the teens or below, I wear a winter hat or skull cap or head band to double up the ears.

34degrees, 20mph and clear lenses

The exhale escapes through the balaclava rather than up to the shades. No fog.

For less than two pairs of new winter socks, you can have the best head comfort you have ever had. Trust me. I own two Pace P3 Thermal Polypro Balaclavas(I still get to wear it when it's in the wash!!!). Chin, cheeks and nose are safe down to minus10 in my book.

Nashbar has it for $14.99. You might want to also buy a couple of these to ease your shipping cost pains

Click pic to buy

Socks are of Utmost Importance

With the weather turning quite frigid round these parts. I thought this would be a great opportunity to point out a few musts for winter riding.

Must #1

New socks are of Utmost Importance

I'm a Wigwam/Fox River kind of guy. It's the thicker sock that always gets my goat. Of course not too thick that I can't wiggle my toes and not too thin that I'd be better off wearing nylons. Color doesn't matter since they are inside my shoes and under my pant outers. Comfort does matter. The key word to remember is NEW. Trust me, your riding will increase in many different ways. You'll ride more cause you got new socks. You'll ride longer cause you got new socks. You'll stay warmer cause you got...and on and 0n and on. As for super new socks, I'll be getting a few pairs of some Endura Thermolite Socks very very soon. We will see.

No matter how fast you are...Its just too bad.

Not much going on

A weekend away was just what the Doctor ordered. Thanksgiving turkey was great. Getting hypnotised is something everyone should try at least once.

Now its Mondya.

Take Note

EXPO Racing Video

I really don't want to post this. I am extremely frustrated with the quality of the vid. Bit rate shmit rate. I hate windows movie maker! Youtube, only allows 100mb of video. if I save the video with a bit rate of 2.1something, the final video size is 108mb. DOH! So I am forced to save it at a bit rate of 1.7something with a file size of 78mb. Quality gets flushed down the toilet. I HATE WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER. I spent hours last night try to re-finalize, re-save and re-upload to no avail. The picture quality sucks so deal with it. Hopefully you can at least get an idea...If anyone out there has any information on how to properly make quality video, please pass it on.

Here it is. EXPO Racing. What you have all been waiting for.

For higher quality vid...Check out here. You might need to download something though.

EPIK 110

We knew no matter what we would be pushing it to be back before dark. 110 miles, 80 of which was gravel goodness, in alot of hours was Aris's first ever Century. To top it off, he pulled me the entire way. We got about a 9am start. Code was waiting and ready with his Gunnar, 4 X 36oz bottles, no ear covers and no booties. Aris n I pulled the bladders out of our hydration packs to store extra gloves and clothes. 36 degrees to start. It wasn't Epic, but it was Epik. Dig it?

Code's legs were feeling good at the start. Aris's were itching to spin at XC pace. Me, it took me a while to warm up.

The Glacial Drumlin State Trail was a mind numbing straight with tons of great views. See the winter cover on the front of the Lazer? This single feature puts it above many $160 dollar helmets. The Lazer Magma is only half the price. Yup, we were feeling great.
Code's pace started to fall of right around the the 30mile mark. I really wanted to complete the ride and get in before dark. We had to pick up the pace. Aris turned in to a work horse and started to fly. We made three stops in the first half, took close to a 45min lunch, and picked up the pace with only one stop on the back half. We rolled in 30minutes or so after dark w/ LOW 30 temps. Stats, who knows? It was a great start to the 2008 Season and a super Trans Iowa wake-up. It was Aris's First Century. It was Epik, an Epik 110.

EXPO Signs National Champion Hopeful for 2008

After back and forth contract negotiations, EXPO Racing has finally been able to come to an agreement with Vince Tamborino for a one year, multi-million cookie contract. This has been the break through accomplishment of the year for the team. Big wins, big sponsors, great camaraderie, nothing can hold a candle to Vince. He is a team-maker.

We are extremely excited to have you aboard for 2008. Thank you Vince!

I truly had a feeling that something great was going to happen at the EXPO Parte'.

IT DID.

The Parte' Line

Yo yo yo. The Parte' line says its Parte' time. EXPO Racing's end of year Parte' starts in a few. The Video is ready. The brew is cold. The homemade pizza is on its way. The entire crew is sure to be present. Can't wait.

TIv4 training starts Sunday morning. The 2nd littlest bro and I will be taking the gravel route to Sun Praire to watch some exciting CX racing. 100+ miles for sure. Dress warm and stay warm. Its gonna be a blast. Comment er email if you would like to join us.

Already?

The lights must go up.

Update - No roof yet. Lights are 1/3 done. Parte' Sat!!!!! Video Premiere Sat...look out.

Post Card.......s

Trans Iowa v4 post cards are in the mail...Why are there two you ask??? Hmmmmm. You'll just have to wait to find out.

Stay tuned blog side for frequent TIv4 posts. Official stuff here. Like I said before, this is one cookie I'd love to eat. Official training kicks off Sunday.

To aid in your Surfing Pleasure

Stay up to date with the SNOB. It will be interesting. click or scroll.


The bros got lost in the School Girl's tool shed after Iceman.



Ronsta's Iceman paper is quite motivating.

I can feel the vibes going in and out of this little blog here, and I am here to ease your pains. This EXPO video anticipation is just too much for you to handle. My "preview" didn't help much either. So I have decided to open my vault of video goodness...The once famed La Perla Racing 2005 video has made its way to the youtube masses. Then, La Perla(a fine Mexican restaurant in Milwaukee that so wonderfully helped our crew get started on the "team" side of things). Now, EXPO Racing aka Team EXPO aka EXPO Rides aka EXPO aka expo aka Expo. Get it right. So, here is 4ish minutes of bananas on bikes. We were all so little.

The Endurosnob Awards 2008

In the Words of eNDUROSNOB:

It's that time of year again and, apparently, some of you are ready to
begin nominations judging by a few emails I have gotten. Third verse, same as
the first. Nominations in the comments and we'll hold the actual voting
throughout the next couple of weeks.

Fiendish reminder: Photos can simply be sent to me via the email in my profile.

As I always point out, the idea is to give people props and respect.

Category One: Endurance Cyclist of the Year.

Category Two: Single Speeder of the Year.

Category Three: Photo of the Year.

Category Four: Blogger of the Year.

This should be fun. Frings, I know you gots some great MTB pics...I'm sending yours of JW's. Video of the year? Easy, EXPO Racing team video. How do I know? Cause i saw it(bad aSS!). Endurance Single Speeder of the year? Easy, Me. Wife of an Endurance Single Speeder of the year? Easier, Trixie.
There's no sense in submitting here. Send it to the SNOB!


I got this sweet new BIONICLE sticker today from Garret.

2007 EXPO Racing team video preview

Quick put together. Premiere is scheduled for Nov. 17 at the EXPO Racing Parte'. There are a few dead spots, deal with it. Enjoy.

Not so Cold

No Snow...

No posts for a while...My Aunt-in-law passed last week. No Iceman for me. That is not to say EXPO Racing didn't melt the snow this weekend. Ripped it up.



Theo - 2nd place



All men 12-14! Midwest Regional Championship! SECOND PLACE!



Aris - 4th place



Made a pass in the last mile to take 4th. What racing is all about.



Darwin - 5th

Second to oldest bro. Only his second MTB race ever. Him being able to race is the exact reason I love Iceman so much. I made the decision Thursday night to not race(Trixie, I love you). I told Dar to pack his bike and race under my name. Dar shows up Friday night to pose as me...didn't have to. The folks at Iceman completely changed all the rider info and even let him change classes. Wow. Thanks to Iceman, they have contributed to the Mountain biking community +1.



John G - 10th

Top ten in the race's largest field...nice



Kathy Gregorski - 4th

Constant top 5 finishes all year(we both know it was a timing chip thing at Short n Fat)

Side notes:
EXPO Racing's end of the year parte' is this coming Saturday. The days highlights include; Homemade Pizza's, fire, and 2007 EXPO Racing highlight reel premiere!

2008 Lazer Helmet Proposal is out the door...we won't hear back till Nov. 20ish.

Clif Bar has been renewed for 2008!

Surf

Water proof anyone?
My messenger bag is already in the garbage.



With Trans-Iowa v4 right arround the corner, my mind has been on a few BIG things which all root to an even BIGGER thing.



SELF SUPPORTED
I carry all non-mini mart items with me from the start. I need a pack. I am absolutely 100% focused on Ergon (the root). The new BD1, BD2 or the newer BC3 is the focused question. To get the answer, it's going to take some research(Mr. 24, Mtbr.com, Ergon, G-Ted BD2 review).



LOOOOOONG
Bar setup??? If don't ride my drops in a 30min cross race, I'm probably not going to in a 300ish mile gravel grind. So, traditional drop bars are out. Mustache, Mary, Midge, Jones, flats, flats with bar ends...? My main goal is to create a setup which allows me to use Ergon grips (again, the root). Research and century rides to test...I better get going.


Now that I think about it. This prep work is going to be a blast!

First lets hope I get in...

Gettin' some love from ERGON

EXPO Racing gets a tad bit of press on the Ergon web! Take a lookie. Clicky the Ergon logo just below the "About Me" section in the right side bar.

In a few days the link will be switched back to Ergon's home page.

"At Night" State Champ

A second look since he dropped his gym membership like 3years ago.

WI Night Race State Champion

So I was taking pics left and right, all day Sat and Sun documenting my CX double dip on the local. It was going to be the post of a lifetime. I was going to talk about how I rode to each race and how I got my rear handed to me each time. How my bike rode like a dream on Sat and was over geared on Sun. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Aris decided to win The Wisconsin Night Race State Championship on Sunday night. He signed up for the U16 because he's 16. He took 1st Overall and stole my weekend glory in the process. Great win Aris.

The "At Night" State Champ

Motivation

I am so motivated. Post card is ready(needed fer registration). Self supported. Self supported.
Read up






This is another one my heart desires... Read up. It's a true "out there" event and its been calling out my name for years now. 75% of clothing is ready, 20% survival gear check and...I still need a snow bike. 120% preparation is needed, I got a ways to go. 2008 looks like it'll pushed back to 2009. It will be worth it. Trust me.