Levis / Trow - a little longer write

John G and Chris T.

Jdubs starting the 50mile Duo

I showed up with exactly one hour to spare before the start. As we drove in to find a parking spot we saw the ever scary Lee Unwin all kitted up and ready to race. He is just one of those guys that is clearly faster than you so all I do is spy from behind trees to see his secrets. However on this day I had zero time for spying. I had to unload, set-up, get dressed and poop.

Trixie took charge and set up the pits. And the boys would fight about chain of command after I asked one of them to grab something. Na, really. The "O" was a nice dedicated help all day. Aris, Brandon and Jordan rode hard and helped great. The biggest help of all was when The "O" held my place in the doody line while I got ready. Only one doody hole? Who cares?!?! The course was way to gnarly to let this get in the way. It was flush anyways.

I made it the the back half of the Pre-Race meeting and scanned the field. Yup, Lee was racing. I saw Charlie Farrow too. I smile every time I see that guy after his performance at TI. A few other really fast 24-9 peeps as well. The shotgun start had me running to the bike.

The bike creaked all day back at the drop-outs, which is already fixed as I type. Aside from the noise, the bike rode like a dream thanks to new 5 degree bend bars. The only thing this bike is waiting on before 24-9 is a XT crank and some new Ergon bling w/bar ends...can't wait.

I started slower than everyone. which I expect. I have a problem with this in every single endurance race. I start slow and stay slow err...consistent. I usually can reel people back, however these 12hour races seem to be getting more and more XC-like. I'm working on it.

I was riding almost everything in this amazing 12.5mile course. It was so so fun. I managed to dump my bike twice on wet roots on the first lap. After that I was pretty much smooth sailing. I regained my speedy descent confidence too. After my first lap, I would almost beg peeps to let me get in front for the downs. When they would graciously let me pass, I would be able to super gap them. Let's just get faster on the ups, ok?

I tried Cytomax for the first time and it seemed to work quite well. 20oz of Cytomax and 6-12oz of H2O every 1.5hours...Is that enough fluid intake????? I rode fine and felt really good all day. But is that truly enough for 24hours? Prolly not, but it at least has me thinking.

BTW, Aris "I'm faster than you" Peters is the 2008 WI Single Speed Le-Mans Start State Champion.

Levis Trow 5 Laps

I felt great after 5 laps, I was solid in 2nd place, but I wanted to ride hard this coming week, so I pulled the plug @ 4pm. I didn't loose 2nd until 7pm. So it was 3rd place I got. Aris had a tough day in the SS State Championship race (25miles). B and J took 4th in the 50mile Duo. Chris T got an awesome 4th in the 25mile and John G took a almost as good 5th(top 5 were honored). Jeff Frings (he has a sweet pic of Chris)made a surprise visit to hang with the pit.

A nicer write-up down the road w/pics.

Lets all hope Lee is ok.

EXPO is off to Levis Trow

Car is packed.

Marshfield today.

100miles on Saturday.

Maybe a 'lil sum'n sum'n later today for you.

Tambo

We found a pic of Chris!

Photo Credit -

Nachobar

Wednesday 45

Drove to Tower Optical (A) in the Tosa side of town to unload our bikes. I was on the 9.9 geared and B and J would ride their 925's (42:16). Kissed Trixie good bye and we were off.

We started out semi-strong through the "city" and then dropped the hammer after 124th st. The short sprint climbs started to show real soon which had B gaping us in a yo-yo type of fashion. I kept telling the boys about the Cote De Constantine throughout the day and they kept asking, "Is this it?", "Is that it?", "That had to be it?". I would reply, "not even close"...this video is the second half of our second ascent in the "IT" climb.

They stopped asking.

45miles, two fill-up stops, one BikeSafer sighting and one flat.

If You're Interested

Folks,

Expedition Supply's Beaver Dam store has been underwater for too long, they are trying to boost some sales due to the loss of revenue. So they are ramping up some EBAY sales to help their cause.

Per MC Raasch:

If you didn’t know, EXPO's Beaver Dam store is not doing so
good. We had to evacuate on Friday (the 13th). With major
inventory damage, and no insurance coverage for floods. I’m guessing
we’ll be closed for at least a month, in our busiest time of year there.
So if you can spread the word to anyone you know looking for bikes etc, we
are trying to boost some extra sales to make up for the lost sales in BD.

If you gots the time, go and take a lookie here for their items up for bid. If something interests you, go ahead and bid knowing you are truly helping out your LBS.

Keep Press'n On

Reunited..and it feels so good

Theo "The O" Peters took the 1st half of the season to ride with the touted MARS Juniors...As it turned out, he had a little too much EXPO in his veins. We're happy to welcome him back to EXPO Racing. It had to have been the kit because all the sudden The O puts out his best race ever to date! 7th Overall in Sport.

On the plate for this week...some EXPO special treatment, a TREK 85oo built with a SID World Cup, with some accompanying XT sprinkles. Johnny G will help him build it tomorrow. After that, some fixedgeargus bootcamp training.

JDubs is extremely impressed with the new EXPO bottles..so impressed he put out his best finish to date, 5th in Citizen U14. He's down to only 3:44:00 behind the lead.

All I can say is... look out for Bbones. 3rd in Sport 12-14. Not only is he getting faster, he is also gaining confidence!

Aris had some hidden concerns regarding this style of course. He now has no worries as he conquered the washboard. 1st in his age in Comp and 8th overall. Steady and strong.

The rain had started to fall mid-way into my second lap. As the rain came, my legs started to give. I swapped bottles and peeled the Oakleys in route to 6th in my age and 40ish overall. I'm making progress.

Chris T. came in right on top of me. We might as well have rode together. Trixie apologizes for the lack of Chris photos. I'll be scanning the net in the next few days. I know it's been awhile since many of you have seen Tambo's grill.

Reforestation Ramble

Theo and Aris both took top 10 overalls.

Brandon scored another 3rd.

Jordan has his best result yet, 5th.

Chris and I finish mid pack...I can work with that.

Pics and write up later.

I'm hungry.

EXPORACING.NET

www.EXPORACING.net

Getting ready for GB

This weekend's race is gonna be a hammer fest. One of those 'How long can you keep it in the DOG?' kind of days. In preparation, we decided to bring out the mountain bikes for a little road riding with Aris and Holy Moly.

Where to go? Breakfast on the East Side.

How cool is it when your favorite morning place allows 6 bikes inside? Too cool.

After our bellies were loaded we parted ways...Aris, Brandon and myself dropped the hammer in route to Crystal Ridge. I was on the geared 9.9, Brandon was on his 925 (42:16) and Aris was on his Rig (32:15). I bet you can guess who got worked...

EXPO @ MACY'S

No photoshop here.

No really...The "surprise" showed up today. Shelley over at PCS along with a little help from Trek allowed EXPO Racing to suck on something proper. Leak proof, clear caps and nipples. You can't beat it.

Subaru Cup

Pops Mensa-Bansu did what he does best on Father's Day. Oversee the entire WORS operation. He scored up a very nice dri fit shirt for his efforts too. Happy Father's Day Dad!

Joe Horvath (left) has his summer crib only 15 minutes from Nordic Mountain. He was Mr. Support all weekend. We are extremely excited to have him part of EXPO Racing.

Theo took 2nd Overall in the Stage Race. He gutted out the XC, Very strong Super D and an even stronger Short Track. A Sport overall Short Track win was all his until a lapped rider snagged his bar and took him out. He still managed a 4th and still has a little EXPO in him.

In the final .5mile of the Super D Jdubs closed a 50yard gap to over take an age grouper and solidify a 2nd in the Subaru Cup Omnium. A very strong 6th on the XC coming in only 10 seconds behind expoRacer.

A tough day one had Bbones thinking other things. He DNF'd the XC because of a bad crash at the start. I tried to get him to go back out there to try and salvage his Stage Race, but he was too mentally taxed. He came back with a stress free Sunday and took 2nd in his Super D and Short Track. He looked especially strong in the ST.

Griff pulls out one of his best finishes yet. A 4th place in the XC. We missed ya on Sunday.

Um, yeah. Ok. 2nd Overall in the XC, 1st Overall in the Super D and 1st Overall in the Short Track. 1st place overall in the Stage Race. 3minutes over the entire field...on a single speed. Aris has decided to become one of the COMP men(errr, boys) to beat. An absolutely stellar weekend for Aris "I'm faster than you" Peters.

Just as the picture shows, I was swallowed up by the COMP field and the course. A very very tough course(which makes Aris's win even bigger), but a very very very FUN course. I can't wait till next year. My only result of note - 4th 19-34 and 6th overall in the COMP Super D. I have gots lots of works to do.

Thursday

A light commute today with hill sprints at every ascent.

We pack tomorrow.

3 days of MTBing bliss awaits.

Jordan is 12

The day is up to Jdubs for it is his 12th birthday. First thing he wanted to do is ride to the East Side for some breakfast at the Plaza Cafe.
Bikes parked in the distance, we could barely clear our plates. No CPC today.

Then we rode over to DW for some Segway training.

The day is only half over...more fun is on its way.

Cycling Related stuff:

-Oakley goods are getting ordered this weekend.

-Brandon's Mocha Rig is here.

-Surprise for the team will be here shortly...Y'all will have to wait.

-Train hard Tuesdays (B and J = 24, Me n BikeSafer = 75, Aris = 40)

Brandon and Jordan have Landed

We watched the rain fall while we were at the mall. So we watched Indiana Jones. Pretty good.

Once we got out of the movie we saw that the roads were dry. This made us gitty. We sprinted home and hopped on the bikes with pistons ready.

From the start we knew we would be flirting with Mother Nature.

It was in the distance and we were headed right for it.

We finally made a slight EASTerly turn which had us riding parallel with the darkness.

This was 100yards before we made our direct EAST turn which forced the storm to chase us. We were booking at 25mph. I was certain I dropped Jordan, but nooooo. We had the sweetest pace line. Then we hit 26mph. The boys were still on my wheel!!! Only 2ish miles to go. We still hadn't felt a drop. Just as I point out the biggest pothole ever, Jordan decides to float to the right so he doesn't have to scrub speed. He floated right into the pothole. He tried to hop it...

We snuck under an apartment overhang once the rain started. co2 to the rescue. Lesson learned: Sit up and stick the knee out to scrub, pay attention to the signals.

It was a blast riding home those last miles in the rain. All smiles cause we knew we would'a had it beat. The boys looked great today. Garmin says 29.64miles in 2:01:14(flat change included). Not bad. Not bad at all.

Recoverite

I was a little dehydrated today, but I really didn't care cause I rode prepared.
Very prepared.

The new jersey was staring at me this morning so I put it on. Chromeo in the iPod. Jerky in the grill. Just over 2 hours today. Retirement parte' in a few minutes cut the ride short. Brandon and Jordan are spending the summer on the South Side...They land tonight.

Per the request of Squidbuzz, I threw down some of this powder stuff. Not sure if it beats the 1% Chocolate Milk over ice. Time will tell.

Date Nite

Cruise to Walgreen's for beverage.

Call in order to Thai Lotus.

MTB pulls the fixie in route.

Delivery man.

Enjoy.

Saturday is gonna keep the mountain bikes clean. I'm hit'n the road on my new rubber. 25mm slicks just installed on the Roger.

Resting

Rain this morning means the grass is starting to look like a jungle. I was sore in the legs before my commute, then they felt fine during the ride and the work day, even on the ride home. I showered, relaxed and took Buckwheat on the walk. That is when it hit me. Really sore I am tonight.

Does commuting make a rest day not a rest day? Depends.

Foggy n Wet 79

Today was very foggy and misty-wet(on the second half). My glasses spent most of the day on the helmet. Gator Aid and Half Tea/Half water there and Heed and OJ/water back. Granola and Triscuits and Clif Bloks in the tummy. Garmin says:

4hr 35min

79 Miles(soon to be like this)

17.1 mph

2782 ft up(not bad when half the ride is city)

No WNR due to wetness. I feel good. All you can do is smile after rides like these. Thursday is cut the grass...oops.

Keep Press'n On

Big Hopes Wednesday

I sneaked in 50miles yesterday before it started to sprinkle. I found Tosa mo fo's on Monday and hung with them for a while before I made it home. I hope to rock a 5+ hour ride today, but I have to finish the grass first.

I might try to get down to WNR to meet the bros and do a lap with Al. We'll see.

Big Ring Classic

Hmmmm...Big Ring Classic doesn't seem to be such a fitting name any more. The two EXPO rides to make the podium this weekend were on single speeds. Side note, the new kits look pretty hot.

Brandon "Bbones" Watkins - 3rd Sport U14

Aristotle "I faster than you" Peters - 1st COMP U18

This is the only time I would get to be side by side with the Bro.

EXPO EXPO EXPO

expoRacer

Big Ring

Skinsuit

Beth's 2008 Debut - Something's missing though...?

Props to all Mohican and Kanza finishers - I wish I was there.