Watch this video, all the way through. If this does not make you want to go to New Zealand,… your dead.
Posted in Joe's blog
That’s right, just 2 weeks till the Steel Creek GNCC, and I will be back on the GNCC circuit – at least for a race or 2. Cannot wait.
Here is a really high quality video to see what it is all about. Hoping for exactly the same conditions there.
If that one does not get you amped up, try this.
Out.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
I’ve read that the camera that did this video, films at a whacky 1000 frames per second! That’s Incredible.
They are riding the wrong brand at the Am Pro team, but Randy does have a great piece of property. This is where we rode a couple of weeks ago in South Carolina.
And while we are at it, let’s take a look at the sketchiest urban DH course ever. Blind jumps, dogs, narrow steps…wow
Out.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
This blog post is just going to be a cheap ploy to show off my photos from the race.
If you read my previous 2 blog entries, you know that I just returned from the 1st National Enduro – down in South Carolina. But, I also went down for a day of riding before hand. I was lucky enough to be invited to Randy Hawkins place to do that day of riding. Take a look at the previous blog entry here to see that. You can find each of our race courses and type of terrain somewhere on Randy’s property. It was amazing. Sand track, outdoor MX track, woods, hills, creek jumps…everything.
Randy wishing us best of luck after being at his place
It appears to me that South Carolina is mostly sand. At least from the halfway point to the ocean, it is 99% sand. Now I actually really like South Carolina. The weather is great, the people are friendly, and they RACE motorcycles there. All the time. If you lived in South Carolina, you could race the GNCC circuit, the National Enduros, The National Harescrambles series and all the local stuff. There would be racing all the time. On top of that, there is also fantastic road cycling, and in the northern part of the state there would be great mountain biking. Why don’t I live there? That is another topic altogether. (Or is it because I love the view of snow as far as the eye can see into April?)
Enduro’s are very different from harescrambles racing, and for me they are really hard. I am much better with the Harescrambles methodology of go fast for the whole period of time. I can deal with a straight 2-3 hours of that better than I can the start stop of enduro’s. Somehow, I just really struggle to get into the groove in an enduro.
For me there were 5 sections in this enduro.
before the start.
Me and my minute mates for the day
Section 1 was short. Just 8 miles. But, it was completely whooped out and holed out also. Tree roots, sand etc. My arms pumped up like Popeye. I rode like a complete squid. I bet I lost any possibility of a top 10 result in this section. Living in Wisconsin, and not riding since October is not good for your race fitness.
Section 2 was longer, but still only about 8 miles. But, it was rutted and whooped and sand and holes. My arms were still bad, but got better towards the end.
Section 3 was longer at about 15 miles. It was whooped and rutted and super tight trees and holes. Are you sensing a pattern here? I liked this section the least. This is the section that was filled with trees that you had to stop and wiggle your bars through as it was so tight. There were sections that were just a wall of trees that you had to just bash your way through. Tough.
Section 4 was the best section. Long also, but fun slowing trail with some tight stuff thrown in. This was my favorite section. But it still was a lot of sand whoops and standing.
Section 5, laying it down.
Section 5 was good also, but over too soon as it was only about 9 miles. It was only half jammed with and tight trees. I busted this out, and went like I knew that I could. If only I could have ridden the first 2 sections the same way I did this one and #4.
Section 6 was just for the pros and A riders. Of course, Mat and JD told me that was the best section. Dang. Check the video below, it is short but it shows what the conditions were like.
Other stuff
Met the folks from The Atlanta Race shop. They are super. They have posted a bunch of pictures that I will grab and give them credit for in the bigger post. They also sported me a tshirt in a drawing.
They have a killer race van, and they put up a nice little story about the race here.
Mat cracked the top 20 in the pro class. Good on him.
- JD was 9th in 250A
- I came 13th in +50. I am ok with that, as I rode section 1 in 22nd place, section 2 17th, section 3 15th, section 4 12th, section 5 10th. I knew that I was bad in those first 2 sections, and that I got better. For sure I did. Next time…
- The Wisconsin crew represented well.
- We drove straight home through the night. I am crushed.
My hands are shredded. Thats a dime size blister on the palm.
Good morning race fans
My bike was great. It ran superb. The new bars were great (thanks Easton). The Washougal tires worked like a champ (thanks a ton Kenda), as always Moose gear is impossible to beat. Me new EVS braces are the bomb.
Before we left, we stopped in Columbia and had a burger. Ate it outside. We're not stupid.
Back to the great white north, and start the countdown to Steele Creek GNCC. Many thanks to our friends @TheRaceShop for the hospitality and the recognition and for being really cool. (Thanks for the shirt, btw.) Most of the “good” pictures here are from them. Thanks gang.
I believe there are new bikes coming soon! That is going to be a bonanza of tweets and blog posts. Brace yourself.
Out.
Joe
This is a quick entry, on the iPad on the way home. I will do a bigger, better entry with pictures etc… Tomorrow.
It appears to me that South Carolina is mostly sand. At least from the halfway point to the ocean, it is 99% sand. Now I actually really like South Carolina. The weather is great, the people are friendly, and they RACE motorcycles there. All the time. If you lived in South Carolina, you could race the GNCC circuit, the National Enduros, The National Harescrambles series and all the local stuff. There would be racing all the time. On top of that, there is also fantastic road cycling, and in the northern part of the state there would be great mountain biking. Why don’t I live there? That is another topic altogether.
So the National Enduro. Do I need to remind everyone how those work? Ok, in the new format, there are timed sections and transfer sections. Your times from the timed sections are added up to give you your overall time. The person with the lowest time at the end wins. Simple, right? But, the trail is not like a GNCC or a hare scrambles. It is TIGHT. Tighter and narrower than your bars sometimes.
Section 1 was short. Just 8 miles. But, it was completely whooped out and holed out also. Tree roots, sand etc. My arms pumped up like Popeye. I rode like a complete squid. I bet I lost any possibility of a top 10 result in this section. Living in Wisconsin, and not riding since October is not good for your race fitness.
Section 2 was longer, but still only about 8 miles. But, it was rutted and whooped and sand and holes. My arms were still bad, but got better towards the end.
Section 3 was longer at about 15 miles. It was whooped and rutted and super tight trees and holes. Are you sensing a pattern here? I liked this section the least. This is the section that was filled with trees that you had to stop and wiggle your bars through as it was so tight. There were sections that were just a stand of trees that you had to just bash your way through. Tough.
Section 4 was the best section. Long also, but fun slowing trail with some tight stuff thrown in. This was my favorite section. But it still was a lot of sand whoops and standing.
Section 5 was good also, but over too soon as it was only about 9 miles. It was only half Annika and tight trees.
Section 6 was just for the pros and A riders. Of course, Mat and JD told me that was the best section. Dang.
Other stuff
- Met the folks from The Atlanta Race shop. They are super. They have posted a bunch of pictures that I will grab and give them credit for in the bigger post. They also sported me a tshirt in a drawing.
- Mat cracked the top 20 in the pro class. Good on him.
- JD was 9th in 250A
- I came 13th in +50. I am ok with that, as after section 2 I was in 22nd place. I knew that I was bad in those first 2 sections, and that I got better. For sure I did.
- Enduros are hard for me. I do not do the start and stop thing very well. I am much better with an HS race that just goes from the gun for 2-3 hours.
- just talked to JD. Unfortunately, they are on the side of the road with a flat.
- had a great product development talk with Patrick Koether from Rekluse. Love those guys stuff.
My bike was great. It ran like a champ. The new bars were great (thanks Easton). The Washougal tires worked like a champ (thanks a ton Kenda), as always Moose gear is impossible to beat. Me new EVS braces are the bomb.
I will put up additional thoughts and pictures soon. There are a ton.
Back to the great white north, and start the countdown to Steele Creek GNCC.
Out.
Joe
The Mat is hearing that he is needing to be arriving on the driveway . And so he does.
On Wednesday night, Mat came to my house. He was packed up and ready to go to Sourth Carolina. Yes, you heard me right, go to South Carolina and ride ourselves crazy and then do the 1st national enduro! Heck yes, I said, I am will be wanting to do just that. woo hoo!
If you just want the summary of the 1st 2 days of the trip, we drove a long way, it rained on the way, we arrived and then slept, we got up to nice temps and no more rain, we rode ourselves silly.
We had decided to stay overnight at my house, then leave at like the 3ish of AM. I explained it away that I was old and needed my beauty sleep. Yes, JD thinks I am a wuus now.
The drive was, well long. As usual, we made jokes along the way about the quad class at a GNCC. Seems like that is what motorcycle guys do, invent new quad classes that they could compete in. Ours is sponsored by Keystone beer. It would involve drinking a beer each time through scoring and then doing another lap. The winner would be the rider who’s last lap time was the closest to their first lap time. Cannot decide if you need to wear a sleeveless tshirt for this class though.
On Friday, we rode at Randy Hawkins property. It is an incredible thousands of acres piece of property. Tons of people out there riding. All the pros getting ready for the GNCC races and National Enduros etc… Paul Whibley was there, Jordan Ashburn etc… They were going fast.
I set up a small loop that was part sand track and part woods loop. I had arranged to test 2 different tire combination’s. I tri
ed my base tire just to get a feel for the trail in the morning. Then went to the Kenda Washougal front and Millville rear. I did 3 laps with different tire pressures. Then I changed to the Washougal rear and did that at 3 different tire pressures. I ran out of time and did not get to try the new Millville front, so that will have to wait for the next testing session.
I can say that I am pretty pleased with the Washougal front and rear combo, at 9.5psi. I am planning to run that on Sunday. Hope I do not flat.
At the end of the day, I saw Randy talking to the Factory Connection guys. I got a few minutes to tell him thanks for allowing us to ride here. I am sure he hears that all the time, but it was really cool for guys from Wisconsin to be riding their bikes on trails in February.
Today, on to Salley SC for the National Enduro.
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, cycra, district 16, Enduro, factory conneciton, fmf, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, ironman gncc, Joe Vadeboncoeur, kenda, Mark Junge, moose racing, National Enduro, offroad, randy hawkins, Rekluse, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Trek, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, zipty
Check it out! AJ at Victory Circle Graphix worked his magic and put together a kick butt graphic package for us for this year. What can I say, AJ does absolutely the best graphics.
new Graphics for all the new RMZ 250's
All the numbers. Scott takes number 3, Mark will take #57 for a few races. I will use 303 for both local and national races.
If you need graphics, you have to call AJ.
click the image and go straight to Victory Circle Graphix
Thanks AJ!
Did you notice that Scott and I have a new tire sponsor? We are pretty excited about this. Kenda has made great tires for a long time for both Bicycles and Motorcycles. When Scott and I were first starting out, we both used Kenda tires. We had good experiences with them then, and are both excited about getting back on them now. There is a big stack of them here now, and it is time for us to get after doing some testing and evaluating.
For me, the first time I will be on them is at the National Enduro trip in just 2 weeks. I will get a chance to do some riding before the event, and have a bunch of wheels mounted up with tires for trying different setups.
Really looking forward to it. Thanks a ton Frank Stacy and Kenda tires.
Joe
We do a weird thing. “We” would be referring to us humanoids. We futz with our clocks and move them around based on how it makes us feel. We want daylight later in the day, after we are done with work, so we created daylight savings time. I once had a dog, which is no longer with us, but he did not care if it was summer or winter. He was active in the daylight, and sleeping if it was dark out. In the summer he just got less sleep than in the winter, that was how he dealt with it.
You are probably thinking about now, so what. That is a dog, he doesn’t even have opposing thumbs, we change the time because we can. Have you ever seen a dog trying to adjust a clock? I did not think so.
I have looked into this. There are a lot of theories about why we have daylight savings time, most of which are not valid. There have been theories that it saves electricity, or that it made people healthier or a bunch of other theories. Almost all of them have been proven to not be true. (If you do not believe me check Wikipedia, after all we all know that is the source of all wisdom.)
I pulled this right from the Wikipedia entry on Daylight Savings Time “DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entemologist George Vernon Hudson, whose shift working job gave him leisure time to collect insects, and made him aware of the value of after-hours daylight.” Mr. Hudson was from New Zealand, and he proposed this to the New Zealand government in 1898. And go back and reread that quote, he proposed this to allow himself more time to collect and study bugs.
Now I do not really care much about bugs. In fact, my favorite times of the year are those times when the bugs are dead and the weather is warm in the middle of the day. But, I can identify with Mr. Hudson and his desire to have daylight to pursue his passions after work. I have also never been to New Zealand, but the fact that Mr. Hudson was from New Zealand reaffirms for me that it must be a great place.
If you haven’t figured out why I living for March 13 these days, that is the day that the clocks will turn over to DST. That means that on March 13, at my home latitude, the sunset will be at approximately 18:56. For all of us that are challenged by clocks counting beyond 12, that is almost 7PM. 7PM! Just think about that. That is 3 hour more daylight than when we were at the very bottom of that pendulum swing! On December 21, the sun was setting here at about 4pm.
That will allow an afterwork two wheeler ride. A road bike ride, or a ride in the woods on a mountain bike or, on my RMZ if the snow is gone.
Hang on everyone, we are just a bit away from paradise. That thought just gives me a glow today. (It’s the little things)
Joe V.
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, district 16, Dyracuse, factory conneciton, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, Joe Vadeboncoeur, kenda, Mark Junge, moose racing, mountain bike, National Enduro, offroad, OMA, Rekluse, rmz250, Scott Daubert, Trek, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, zipty
Some people will believe anything.
http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/10-proven-benefits-of-being-left-handed/
I mean… how would you turn the throttle? I guess I do have an auto clutch.
out,
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Are you excited? I know that I am.
Local HS rep and Enduro hot shoe, Brian Terry and I are heading down to do the 1st national Enduro. It is called the Sandlapper, in South Carolina. I wonder if there will be any sand? We are heading down a couple of days early, so that we can try and ride a little before the event. We will be meeting JD Freibel, and probably Mat Herrington down there. They are going down to ride for more than just a bit. I have not even started a motorcycle since last November, as there has been 2 feet of snow on the ground here since then. Mat says that makes me much more rested than all the guys down south. We will see.
The forecast for Salley SC. over the next 10 days on Weather.com is for highs between 64 and 71 degrees. OMG, that is going to be like going to the Sahara. We are talking heat exhaustion, mangled hands and sore back from 5 hours of battling sand whoops.
Oh Well, I guess it is time to kickstart this season into motion.
Time to kickstart the season and get going. Woohoo!
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, D16, district 16, Dyracuse, Enduro, factory conneciton, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, Joe Vadeboncoeur, kenda, Mark Junge, moose racing, National Enduro, offroad, OMA, Rekluse, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, WIXC
Scott and I are planning to do the 24hour race in Alabama, June 4-5. It is a big deal. We are planning to head down on Wed/Thur, we have everything all set up. We have a camper, we have a pit space on pit row, we have our bikes all set up, we are prepping our bodies. etc…
We are planning to do a duo team. Both of us on 2011 RMZ 250 (hopefully), or our current 2009 RMZ 250′s. We have 2 people coming to do logistics and food. Prepping food, prepping gear and other things around the camp. We have 2 people coming to take video, and photos, manage helmet cam footage etc… Our plan is to turn it all into a few short video to put on YouTube etc.., and a longer video to put up on our site and use in other places. Should be fun.
We are not necessarily going there to try to win. But, we are training hard and plan to have everything else lined up to have a good race. But, we do not have a mechanic.
WE NEED A MECHANIC!
If you are interested, let us know.
Below is the flyer from the 2010 race.
Flyer from the 2010 race.
Posted in Joe's blog
This little video comes along at a time when we really need it. It is winter, and we are all DYING to get out and ride in the dirt. I will be doing that with Brian Terry, JD and Mat at the National Enduro in South Carolina in just 19 days. Yikes!
I have not even started a motorcycle since November 1. Oh well, there is no better way to get started!
Regardless, watch this and you will see why Scott and I (along with everyone else) do this sport.
check back in 19 days for the first race results and stories of the year.
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, cycra, D16, Dyracuse, Enduro, factory conneciton, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, ironman gncc, Joe Vadeboncoeur, kenda, Mark Junge, moose racing, National Enduro, OMA, Rekluse, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix
Got your attention at least!
You know how it is, you wait and wait for something to happen, and then when it does it seems like it blows right by. It was that way when you were a kid with Christmas and your Birthday. It is that way now with vacation plans and the cycling trip that you just cannot wait for.
Unfortunately, it is never that way with winter. Winter kinda blows in somewhere in November, settles into something that is not so bad for the month of December. That makes you say something like, “this is not so bad. I can handle this winter thing.” But, if you live here in the upper Midwest, it just is toying with you. Somewhere along the way, winter slams you down to the ground and then drives right over you with the snowplow blade lowered. It is just not fun.
You spend lots of time in the garage, cleaning your bicycles and motorcycles, marking the days off your calendar that you are still not riding. You ride the stupid trainer, you go to the gym and do your workouts, you go back out to the garage and clean your bikes and motorcycles again. You mark more days off the calendar. You watch mountain bike videos, you analyze your training log from last year to find out where you went wrong, you go back out to the garage and clean your bike and motorcycles. You put new cleats on your shoes, you go to the bike swap and sell your old clothing (that is another story in itself, people will actually buy old cycling clothing), you go back out to the garage again and clean your bikes and motorcycles. It gets really long.
But, then Rays MTB park announces that it is opening in Milwaukee. Winter mountain bike goodness is coming to your back yard. Finally, you will not have to drive all the way to Cleveland. Woohoo! Then you start the long wait and marking the days off the calendar until it opens. It is a bit like the Christmas and Birthday calendar from your childhood.
In my case, I started counting towards the opening of Rays all the way back in the summer. Ray was over there in the old Menards building, throwing up ramps and skinnies and jumps and, ya. You know, just making us all salivate. Then, the wheels came off and we hit the skids and ran into problems getting all of our permits etc…, and we did not open. Ugh…
But, I am proud to say, finally we did. And wow, what a grand opening it was. The place is incredible.
This past weekend was the grand opening. I was over there on Saturday. I am super excited to say that there were about 375 other cyclists there. 375! 375 cyclists that normally have been sitting in their living room in January, waiting for spring. Marking the days off their calendar, riding the trainer, sorting their old clothing and complaining about living in Wisconsin.
Not any more though. From now on, they are riding skinnies, jumping their bikes, ripping around on the XC loop and just enjoying being on their bicycle. Eventually, we will have to build more new things to ride on, eventually there will be an expectation that things will change between your visits there. But for now, it is just great to see that if we build it, they will ride it.
We had a bunch of cycling media there. We had pro atheletes there. Ray was there. It was crazy amounts of fun. I cannot wait to be back there this weekend.
The new phone book is here!
That is the preview video that we posted before the park opened!
That is the park on opening weekend, but before the grand opening party!
That is my daughter Hanna with Heather Irmiger from the Trek Subaru team. (Yeah, they are not quite the same mountain biker)
That is Jimmy Mac from Mountain Bike Action enjoying enjoying the G's in the middle of the turn on the sweet pump track
Lest we forget… There is Cleveland, and it really is a fantastic place to ride.
It had to be built
Posted in Joe's blog
Yep. It is amazing what living in France for 5-6 weeks can do to a guys fitness.
As you know, we hatched a plan a long time ago to spend a bunch of time in France over Xmas holiday. That was because our oldest daughter is going to school in Madrid. And yes, you would be right in saying “Madrid is not in France.” But, we have a philosophy at our house that Xmas should be spent somewhere with snow on the ground. Madrid does not have snow. French Alps do, so duh…
That trip turned into spending 3+ more weeks in Europe. I had plenty of work to do while there, and I could travel back to France each weekend to see the family. So that launched the French Family Vadeboncoeur adventure. We have spent time in France, gone down to Italy for the day, skied when the snow is good, sung Juli Andrews songs etc… It has been a good time. Too much of a good time.
What does French Fitness Profile have to do with any of that, you might be asking now? Well, my phone has a little app that tells me when key events are that are coming up. Right now, it is telling me:
- 40 days till the National Enduro in SC.
- 81 days till the Citizen Paris Roubaix race. (In Northern France, 148k of nasty windblown, rain on cobbles. I will probably break my collarbone.)
- 103 days till the first D16 Harescrambles race.
- 138 days till the Perry Mountain 24hr challenge. That is the big race that Scott and I signed up for. 2 man team, 24 hours of rip roaring HS racing.
So given the above schedule, I am a little bit freaked out about just how bad my fitness is right now.
Too much of this lately. I am in France, afterall. Hard to avoid.
Way to much of this also.
This weekend marks the end of the French Family Vadeboncoeur adventure. It has been fun. But, my phone app tells me that it is time to get back to preseason prep.
Time to overhaul my fitness and get rid of my French Fitness Profile.
Yipp yippee.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Good Coffee Smile!
Everyone thinks something about coffee in the USA, and they think something about coffee in Europe. Depends who you are and what your history with coffee is. You might think that coffee is just right in the USA and too strong in Europe. Or, you might think that coffee is generally too week in the USA and just right in Europe. Either way, you would be wrong.
I generally like my coffee strong. I usually do not do coffee in the USA as it is just too week. I tend to prefer an espresso in the USA. I find that is about the only way to get strong enough coffee. I know what you are thinking, get over yourself Joe. I would be also. But, we all have our things. Mine is coffee. I have slays been the one that thought coffee was always better in Europe (the UK is not Europe, btw, because damn… That coffee sucks).
But, being halfway through this extended stint here in Europe, I can tell you that European coffee is not all created equal. They serve it up like it is something special. But, sometimes it just looks the part. I have generally had crummy coffee in Chatel. Chatel is one of my favorite places in all of Europe, but it is not for the coffee. Mountains, skiing, people, scenery – all. Coffee, no.
The usual coffee at a restaurant in Chatel.
I have tried 3-4 places here in Chatel. I will try more. They can do a good cup of hot chocolate pretty well at Le Perriere, but I think the espresso is just ok. Others have told me the Grissly pub was the ticket, but I did not think it so great.
I did finally have s great little espresso at the Italian restaurant that Salva took me to near our office in Zurich. It was at an Italian place, and it was an excellent cup of coffee. Go figure, eh… Italians and coffee.
So, I am continuing to look for the best coffee/espresso in Chatel. I’ve got next weekend, then a few days the following week. That is my quest.
So I do not really know what the UCC Good Coffee Smile logo is all about. It is Japanese, and lots of times those translations really do not work so well. But, you would think that someone would have done some research and discovered that it did not really make sense.
Good Coffee Smile
Posted in Joe's blog
Week 2 of the French Family Vadeboncoeur Adventure. Chatel France, they have not kicked us out yet. We ARE having a fantastic time.
The view out my office window these days.
Chatel is about 4000 people on a regular full time basis. But, this week is Christmas week, and there has to be more like 20,000 people here now. It is crowded. I think that all of France is off right now, and here in Chatel trying to ski. I did not imagine that you could fit that many people on a ski run. As a result, we have not done nearly as much skiing as we had hoped. The weather is warm also, around 35 for the high that last few days, with no new snow. As you can imagine, that is not the Family Vadeboncoeur mode of skiing. We usually are the powder seeking family.
One day this week, we did go up to Pre-La-Joux and ski, with what Ali refers to as the human avalanche. I think that maybe Europeans do not have the same personal space characteristics as Americans. I do not think that I like standing amidst as many people as I have seen skiing on a ski run here. It is amazing. Probably would not be as bad if there was a bunch of fresh snow, people would get spread out. Wow.
The bus ride down from the hill is always amazing. There are guys outside the bus that are there just to push the last few people into the bus. You are literally packed in there like Sardines. There is probably seating capacity for about 40, then there are at least another 40 people packed into the aisles, all with their skis and poles with them. In the USA, a ski area bus would have your skis at least put on the outside of the bus. Here, all that stuff is in the bus with you. People in ski clothing, with their ski boots on, trying to manage their skis and poles and everything else, while the bus tears down a mountain road. It is a gong show.
On the bus. One of the bad days. Took 1.5 hours jammed in like this.
Last night was New Years Eve. We made it out until midnight – woohoo! I feel like such a kid. Liz and I have not made it up for midnight for a long time. It is usually not that important. It was fun last night though. We met up with Lloyd and Louise at the Avalanche Bar and then over to L’Escalier. Feels like we have become locals (not really). But, we have been allowed to get into places that Lloyd and Louise have brought us into. It has really been fun.
Waiting for Pizza at Hors Piste. Thanks Eddy.
We had Pizza at Hors Piste again last night. Eddy is the owner there and he has befriended us along the way. When we first came in the door, his head waitress told us that “No tables”, Eddy found us a place and served us up some pizza then sent us out so that he could get his tables turning on that important night. Seems that most places are completely booked and you have to make reservations well in advance on New Years.
That is one of the things that is different in America vs. France. In the US, even if a restaurant is booked, they take your name and say come back in an hour and we will see what we can do. Here, they put a sign on the door that says booked, deterring anyone one from coming in that does not have a reservation. Just one of those subtle differences between America and France.
My image of France now
One of the things that is truly great about France is the baguette. The baguette is a simple unassuming bread that goes with just about everything. You eat sandwiches on them, you have them with your pasta or soup, you crumble them up on salad when they get hard, etc… You cannot have enough baguette bread.
Our table in the evening
But, the baguette symbolizes something else. Europeans live in small places, Americans live in large places. Our cars are big, our houses are big, are grocery stores are big, our kitchen storage and refrigerators are large, etc… Here, everything is small. So small, that there is no space for anything. You must go to the market almost every day. The refrigerator holds only a small amount of stuff. You go to the store to buy that days meals. You do not buy extra, as there is just no where to keep it.
You also must bring your own bags to the grocery store. They do not provide them. That is not such a big deal, as you are only taking 2 bags home with you anyway – no space remember. You get used to this.
The baguette doesn’t keep. You really only want to eat them the day you buy them. They get too hard and crunchy, fast. So, you go to the bakery every day and get more baguettes. More baguettes.
This kid is here in Chatel.
Posted in Joe's blog
So we have been here 1 week. We are having a great time. My French is coming along, (my Spanish is not getting better though) I get more comfortable with French every day (although not with Spanish). I really think that if I lived here for 6 months, I would be able to speak it (French that is, not Spanish). I can get along in restaurants, read signs, ask for directions, talk in a store etc… Hanna has way more knowledge of grammar and writing than I, but my walking around French is not so bad. Too bad, that just about the time I will be getting comfortable with it all, I will be going home. Oh well, we really are having a grand time.
We have learned alot along the way, and learned that we still do not know alot more.
Skiing – Merely a suggestion
a little different, yet the same
mountains are big though
Ok. Gravity is gravity, whichever side of the planet you are on. I realize that. But, things are different skiing here. The altitude is lower than in Colorado or Utah. I know that there are also lower places to ski in the US, but that is where I usually ski. Lower altitude does make the snow feel different. A little heavier and wetter. That also might be because of the warmer temperatures we were having as well.
But, one thing that is definitely different is the etiquette on the hill. People do not act the same in the lift lines, nor do they look at the hill the same. They step on your skis, and cut in front of you much more than in North America. Some of the differences stem from the US being all about trying to protect you from yourself. (We truly are not capable of watching out for ourselves) For example, if there was a cliff area at Snowbird, there would be huge signs and maybe even a gate to get through to keep you from accidentally going there. In France, there will just be a sign that says crevice or cliff. No gate, no rope nothing. Skier beware. I guess if you buy the pass, you should expect to take on the risk. I kinda like that.
There is also not a ski patroller in sight. Again, in the US there are always patrollers around to keep the peace on the trail, make sure people are not doing stupid things, not ducking under ropes etc… Basically, keeping people safe from themselves.
Another thing is closed trail signs are merely suggestions. There will be a closed trail sign at the top of the trail, but there will be multiple tracks just going around the sign with a stream of people just blitzing by it. Merely a suggestion.
Driving – You have to know where you are going.
At least you drive on the right side of the road
Views can be spectacular
Has anyone ever told you about how narrow the roads are? It is pretty amazing. Sometimes there is just no way that 2 cars can fit down the road. 2 days before, we drove down to Geneva to pick up Hanna from the airport. They lost her luggage, we are still waiting for that – but that is another story. The road down is narrow and twisty and even has a couple of tunnels that you must pass through that are not wide enough for a truck and a car. In fact, you have to enter the tunnel and cannot really see around the other side of it and hope that you are in there alone. (One more example of – your doing something so you are accepting the risk).
Traffic goes fast also. Most of the time too fast for the conditions. Navigating is also very different from the US. In the US, you navigate by what road you are on. Roads have clear names and are posted in plain sight. You know that you take highway 5 to highway 19 and go east, for example. In Europe, you can never see the road name. No one cares what the road name is. You navigate by what town you are going to next. So, when you come to an intersection or a roundabout, you have to know what town you are going to next. Not just your final destination.
We have already messed that up. On the way back up from Geneva, we did not pay attention and left the roundabout on the wrong direction and drove up the mountain in the wrong direction about 20k, up a twisty snow covered road. We are all just a bit worried about Liz driving with this navigation, but I think she will get it. Ugh… You have to know where you are going.
Shopping – There are rules after all
You can buy many sizes of Nutella
There is only one small grocery store on the main street in town, and then a larger grocery store down on the lower road in town. The small store on the main street, is so small that there is a line outside, because they only let 10 people inside at a time. there are only 3 rows inside. It is seriously small.
The other store in town is the InterMarche down on the lower street. It is smaller than the smallest Sentry I have ever seen at home. On a busy night, they get completely cleaned out. The parking log holds about 25 cars. They never plow the parking lot, so cars are parked every which way.
You can buy some very interesting things. There are foods you cannot identify. Some good, some not as good.
This is a vegetable, somewhere between broccoli and cauliflower.
There are crazy translations on packages. It is not as bad as being in Asia, but there are still some interesting translations.
Who doesn't need some extra... I think it is pizza crust.
All of the stores seem to have their carts out front of the store. That is the same as the US, but the difference is in the US you just take a cart. In France, you have to rent the carts. You can use just about any coin, but you can also get a plastic coin from the counter and that allows you to get a cart. So actually you can get around the renting, if you know the rules. You have to know the rules.
Sidewalks – nowhere to run.
I do not think that you have to clean your sidewalks here. I suspect that is just a French thing. I bet over in Switzerland or Germany, things are much more orderly – and you must clean your sidewalk. They just let the snow pile up, then pack it down by walking on them. It makes for a sidewalk that is sometimes nearly impossible to walk on.
Early morning on a snow morning. Not going to be a good day to walk on the sidewalk.
Not going to be good walking this way either.
The sidewalks are nearly impossible to walk on. Liz has been looking for a place to run. But, there really is nowhere to run.
France is a long way from the Madison Wi.- 7 hours time difference to be exact.
Even when you are a long way from home, things can be much the same. A tree, a few gifts under the tree, some lights, some decorations and holiday music playing on the computer. It’s Christmas, wherever you are.
It's Christmas!
There is something interesting about the time difference to the USA. You cannot get any sleep over here. People are always trying to call you. They call all the way into the night. 7 hours time difference is noticeable.
There is no Starbucks in Chatel France
There is no Starbucks or McDonald’s or Qdoba or Barnes and Noble or just about anything that you would note as something you have seen anywhere else. It is interesting, because until you live in a place like that, you just do not realize how much you rely on the familiarity of that stuff. I consider myself someone who seeks out the LOCAL place, but it turns out that I am not. Maybe you just cannot help but get addicted to the places that you become comfortable with.
I drive along in the USA, stopping at Starbucks and eating at Qdoba. You just become comfortable with all of that. I find that pretty interesting.
They like church bells in France.
They ring them alot. In between the avalanche cannon being fired in the morning, there is a crescendo of church bells going off. They go off for a long time.
You can look French.
You can get beat up when skiing
That is all for now. More will come, as week 2 is all about skiing – with one quick excursion for a work day up to Copenhagen.
cheers.
out
Posted in Joe's blog
Our first full 24 hours is complete. We are truly the French family Vadeboncoeur now. Ali arrives tomorrow, Hanna in a couple of days. I suppose that is when we truly are French family Vadeboncoeur. Oh, the heck with them, we are here therefore we are here. Or something along those lines.
So we flew yesterday. All day. It was a long day. We flew to Detroit, then to Atlanta, then to Zurich, then picked up our car and drove from Zurich to Chatel France. Did I say that it was a long day?
The route was what it was. Sometimes traveling is good, sometimes it just doesn’t work with you. Yesterday was a middling trip. I have had better, I have definitely had worse. Atlanta is Delta’s hub, but I have not flown out of there on an international flight before. Normally, Delta out of Detroit is good to Europe. The planes are all updated, they have individual TV monitors so that you can choose and watch your own movie. Delta out of Atlanta is like being on the way back machine. The planes are old, the seats suck, there is no power at the seats, no individual monitor etc… You are stuck watching some stupid Julia Roberts movie – ugh…
So we arrived at Zurich, and our car was there and ready to go – thank you Salva. Salva is the finance person at our Zurich office, and he arranged a car from the office that was extra for us to use for the weeks while we are here. He rocks.
Eating a sandwich at a roadside place, on our way to Chatel.
We did the white knuckle drive from Zurich in about 4 hours. It was snow and ice covered and definitely knew we were not in the US based on the road clearing. Up over the Morgin pass and down to Chatel.
Out on the balcony. Our apartment in Chatel.
We found our place, got unloaded and moved in and then off to the grocery store. Took us a while to find it, you would think that a town of a few thousand people that the grocery store would not be that hard to find – you would think. We did finally find it. And then the differences really started to show. This was the BIG store in town. I guess I will see what the small store is like, but this was tiny. By the time we left there were so many people there after skiing that they were pretty much emptied out. I have not seen a store that cleaned out before. There were a bunch of things different about it.
- You have to get a cart outside. They do not bring the carts in. And, to get a cart, you have to put money in to “rent” the cart. Wow. Obviously, in the US you just grab a cart, use it and then leave it when you are done.
- Nothing is laid out like you would think it would be in the store. The peanut butter is not by the jam. The crackers are not by the cookies etc…
- They do not provide bags for your groceries. If you did not bring your own bags, then you must buy a bag.
The list goes on.
The view from our place. Not bad.
We went to dinner, had a nice pizza – although it is France and as Lloyd says – good pizza is about 2 hours away in Italy. We also had a nice local wine. We are planning to be drinking wine while we are here. Every night.
Slept with the help of Teppy’s little red pills – all the way to 7am. That is like an eternity for me. Lloyd was texting already at 8:30 – “let’s go skiing!” We did not make it early, but he came around at about 10, and out on the hill we went.
Wow, is all I can say. I thought that it was not going to be great – but it surely was. It rivaled something like Snowbird. And, we only just scratched the surface. There is a ton of skiing here. Had lunch at a nice little place up on the mountain. Some soup and a good bread – back out on the hill.
I forget how much I like skiing, till I am doing it. Damn.
At the end, Liz and I went into a bar at the base and ordered up a couple of beers. Liz had a Stella Artois. She labeled it “husband beater” beer. That is funny, the English call it “wife beater”. That is a reversal, for sure – homeboy.
Liz over the top of the "Husband Beater"
I am scared.
The really funny part is what she discovered in the bathroom. You see, the French do not think the same about bathrooms that Americans do. Americans always separate the mens toilet from the women’s toilet. In France, sometimes the toilet is the same room for both men and women. Just the stalls are separate for the opposite sex. Some stalls are marked mens, some women’s. It is pretty co-mingled. Liz went into the toilet in that bar at the bottom of the beer, and found that the mens urinal was just out in the open. She bolted around the corner only to find a French guy taking a whiz. I wish I could have been there to see the look on her face then.
We just finished another bottle of wine (one per day), and our first dinner at the apartment. Liz is getting cleaned up and we are heading out to the little bar on the corner. Living it up.
You can even cook with that stuff.
Another one coming.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Tomorrow, we are starting an adventure. A pretty big adventure. If you follow along, you know that my job takes me all over the place. Sometimes to great places (Tour de France, Italy to do a bike ride, etc…), sometimes that job takes me places that are not as great (a dealer meeting in Japan, a factory in China, etc…). I travel a lot.
Fortunately, my wife loves to travel also. She rides her bike and generally only comes on the glory trips (Paris to watch the end of the TDF, Germany to a bike show etc…), to her all traveling is a pretty good deal. She doesn’t really see the bad trips, so thinks that my job is ALWAYS good trips. What is the big deal?
Because my kids have always been around traveling, they got the travel bug early in life. they have been more places than people there age should have been. My oldest daughter is currently living in Spain. They call all my trips, vacations.
Because of all of that, we decided to spend the next 1.5 months in Europe. Wow, that is a long trip. I have not really gone on a trip that long. There is the issue of leaving someone to watch the house, the mail stopped, paying bills in advance, setting up someone to shovel after a snow storm. All that is pretty manageable though. You kinda figure that all out.
The hard part I did not anticipate is, the packing. What do you take for 5 weeks?
OMG, the luggage!
Follow along here, and I will write about the adventure as much as I can. I will take photos along the way, and post those also.
Cheers.
Posted in Joe's blog
One of the that always amazes me, is how people are the same around the world. I mean think about it, they have families they have jobs, they live in communities that kinda band together, they pick up dog poop (unless your my nephew, who throws it over the fence to the neighbors yard) etc… But as much they are the same, it is amazing how they can be so different.
This week I was in Asia. If you are a regular reader of my blog site, I would imagine you think it is dribble (if you do not, you have something wrong with you). Most people can think of way better things to do with their time than tune in to see what stupidity I have come up with now. Regardless, you may recall a blog entry a year or so ago that featured a whacky whacky plane flight. If not, you might want to give it another read here. That flight was one of my all time favorite experiences traveling. I should/could probably write a book about that one. This week I am making note of a couple of other things that I have observed in Asia.
The first one is that Asians either seem to be in a huge hurry, or obscenely slow moving. I do not know exactly why that is, doesn’t seem that there is an in between with them. If you think this is already a stupid blog entry, now would be the time to move on and eat some chocolate or guzzle a beer or go back to the American Idol.
There are a few things that make you say, wow.
On the slow side, they do not walk on moving sidewalks. You know the ones that have the recorded voice that says “walk on the left, stand on the right”! In the US, you seldom see someone standing on the walkway. Occasionally you do, but usually it looks like they are doing that for a reason. (handicapped, date night, lost, foreign, eating a Cinnabon etc…). In Asia, more than half of the people get on the walkway and just stand there. They are clearly not in a hurry, or it is just not fashionable to put out any extra effort. Exercise is so bourgeois.
The other example of moving really slow is at an Asian Starbucks. Come on people, you have been to a Starbucks before, there is one on every corner. Order your coffee and get out of the way. And the people behind the counter, jeez, sample your own stuff would ya? Suck down some caffeine and get after it. In the US or a European Starbucks, they want your money, you caffeinated and out of there.
There are examples on the other end of the spectrum also. For example, if you are not just standing on the moving walkway, you are probably running next to the walkway in a funny small step run, hands down stiff armed like you are trying to be inconspicuous that you are moving quickly (Exercise is so bourgeois, you know). It makes me chuckle every time I see it.
Oh, and by the way, do not get in between an older tiny Asian woman and her luggage on the conveyor belt. It is a push your way to the front sport at the airport luggage conveyor. It is also common to push in line. Because if you do not push, there is a risk that they will close the door or something before you get in.
But, the funniest/most awkward thing about being in Asia is the soup slurping. I mean, we are talking serious out loud announce to everyone in the place “I, the funny little old Asian guy with the straight cut mop style hairdo, am having soup”!
Soup with noodles is really a good thing for slurping. If you at home are wondering how it is really done, start by getting your face down really low to the bowl. You should feel the steam and your glasses should fog up. Put the end of a noodle in your mouth, slurp it so that when it is in your mouth you get a really loud sound. If you did not splatter the guy next to you with juices from the soup, your not doing it right. Then suck some of the juice in, loud. Remember, it is supposed to be heard by everyone in the place. It is best to clear your throat, or burp really loud at this point. Look up, and see if you think everyone heard, do it again, only make it count this time.
“I, Joe Vadeboncoeur, am having soup!”
Posted in Joe's blog
I know this surprises many of you, but airplane food really is crappy. Everyone reading this has had better food than on an airplane. Some of you have had worse food, many of you have not.
I mean, how hard is it? Some soup, a salad, decent bread. At breakfast, some granola and fruit. It really shouldn’t be that hard. Don’t get fancy. Fancy just disappoints.
And damn, if I am asleep – don’t wake me up to give me that crap. Do you think that I actually bought this airplane ticket for the food?
And what is up with the stupid linens put under your tray when up in business class? Is that supposed to make the crummy food feel more special? Please, put down a table cloth to give me some over steamed eggs.
First up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Posted in Joe's blog
Found this video on Red Bull. This is really cool.
Gee Atherton, DH world cup champion
vs.
David Knight, World Enduro and GNCC champion
It is amazing to watch the line selections that the 2 vehicles have to choose. The motorcycle has more pace in the fast sections, but cannot flow the turns as well as the DH bike. The DH bike seems to be able to hit the slow technical spots with more pace than the motorcycle. A DH bike can go better on downhills than a motorcycle. It is purpose built, and can be pointed down easier.
Still, Gee’s lines through the rock field towards the end is impressive.
I could not get the video to embed in the post, so you will have to link out to it. It is worth it though.
http://video.mpora.com/ep/pRUvdUU8j/
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, cycra, D16, Dyracuse, Enduro, factory conneciton, fmf, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, Joe Vadeboncoeur, Mark Junge, moose racing, mountain bike, National Enduro, offroad, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, Trek, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, whistler, zipty
This is a post about a few random things. As the title suggests, the Dude will abide. But, how will the Waffle House and that great and ubiquitous copy, the Huddle House play into it all?
This week, I am down in Arkansas at our annual redneck extravaganza of MTB riding, beer drinking, burning stuff, cousin laughing, burning stuff, more beer drinking, more MTB riding, more burning stuff etc… After all, we are not stopping until there is blood-or at least until we are told to stop. The Sheriff is here after all.
We have done a night ride, 3-4 XC rides, some dirt jump time…basic mountain bike extravaganza. We have drank too much beer, we have eaten too much etc… Tonight, we plan to burn more stuff.
So what does the Huddle House or the Waffle House have to do with it all? That is the basic question in all of this. They are not really that much different than each other. They both serve breakfast, pretty much any time you walk in. They both have a raspy voice smoker who greets you at the door and suggests that you can sit where you like. They both serve really bad coffee. They both have a waitress that will call you “Hun” when they take your order. They both have some old guys sitting at the counter, they are there every day. They both have a few guys that are there just trying to get breakfast because they have a hard day of work ahead of them. etc… All of that is good stuff.
The Huddle House has a more expensive and modern interior. The Huddle house has a much more sporty color scheme (red and white), the Waffle House uses a more reliable black and yellow color scheme. The Waffle House is more classic, dirtier, greasier, and not as nice of an experience. But, there really isn’t a classic line about the Huddle House.
The Dude would end up at the Waffle House. Check the website. Church of the Latter Day Dude. Dudeism is hard to beat. I mean, just think of it, you can be ordained in the church and be just like the Dude. You could wear the same serape every day and drink white Russians. Plus, I hate Nihilists, although In-n-Out burger is a good burger.
Regardless, there is a classic line in a movie called “Ladykilers”, from somewhere in the 90′s. The movie is not important, but the line about the Waffle House in the movie is what makes the Waffle House the classic place and the place to eat. After a heist, the gang was meeting up at the Waffle House, and one of the guys brings his girl along. Another of the gang cannot get over that. “You brought your bitch to the Waffle House?”, is repeated over and over again.
The point is, the Waffle House is not for the faint of heart. It is for people with a commitment. It requires commitment of its patrons. You cannot just show up at the Waffle House and expect that you are going to have a great experience. You just have to accept what comes your way at the Waffle House.
That’s about it for me and the Dude.
Out,
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Friday videos are back!
I only did 2 (well really just 1) GNCC race this year. But, if I had done them all, this would be my video. This came from the great guys over at Offroad Junkies.
Cool little MTB bike video I found. Classic song. Don’t you wish we had this trail nearby?
Posted in Joe's blog
I started with the password “xxxxx” on my work email account, many many years ago.
We have a stupid system there that makes you change the password on a regular basis. I don’t even know how often. To frequently is all I know. Being of limited brain capacity, I just could not be bothered. So, I did what any of us would have done.
I added a 1 to the back of my password when I was told to change my password, giving me “xxxxx1”. I have been adding 1 to the previous number ever since (xxxxx2, xxxxx3 and so on), every time I have been prompted for years. Yes, I am that lazy, and that unconcerned with my computers security.
I am now on “xxxxx49”, and I am 49.
Weird.
I think it might even be science. At a minimum it’s a math thing, and math is hard.
Out.
Joe
If you follow along with me, you might get the feeling that I like 2 wheelers. I am not fussy. I like them with knobby tires, with slick tires, with motors, without motors, mountain bikes, road bikes, offroad motorcycles and just about anything in between. You probably didn’t know that about me.
Also, if you have been following along, you might have figured out that I love everything about a little place called Rays MTB park (I am not a one track mind though, because I can also talk endlessly about Whistler, Fruita, Alpe d’Huez and a few other places – my family is already rolling their eyes now). This weekend was the opening weekend for Rays Cleveland. Rays Milwaukee is coming, but this was the season reopening of the original.
I have been going there for years. When Trek got involved last year, it gave me a reason to go that was not just to ride and have a good time. This year, Ray and crew way way way out did themselves. They added what feels like about 25% more of everything. There are more places to ride in the beginner room, in the sport area and everywhere.
There is a new sport jump line that was just crawling with newbie jumpers.
Matt Pickersgill (@mattpickersgill) arrived there on Friday evening, spent the evening at the park and then went back the next day and spent the whole day there. Yow, is all I can say.
Rays Cleveland is about 110,000 square feet of indoor space that has been converted to a mountain bike playground. There is an XC loop, a skate park for BMX bikes, tons of north shore freeride style lines, jump lines, a sport section, an expert section, a beginner room, an expert jump room called the rhythm room, a pump track… the fun just goes on and on.
When we arrived on Friday, there was really not anyone there yet. We were there to help get ready for the opening evening with the local mountain bike clubs. Matt is a computer expert from our computer system at work. He spent most of the time that evening training the employees there and helping them sort out bugs in their system. It was good he was there, as I certainly could not have sorted that for them.
There is a new demo area there, where they are demoing new Trek FS bikes. Remedy, Fuel EX and Scratch Air were big hits. Lots of people trying new bikes over the weekend.
Then we went back on Saturday, where the crowd was out of control. It was so huge. I have not seen that many mountain bike riders all in one place other than something like a big race or Crankworx in Whistler etc… Wow.
We rode a bunch and then had to bust out to make our flights back home. I cannot wait for Milwaukee next weekend. You now know where you will find me on Sunday every weekend this winter.
Here are a few video’s. Oh ya!
This first one is a great little video from the last GNCC race this year. The dust bowl that was the Crawfordsville GNCC race.
And since I cannot kick my DH mountain bike thing, here is a great little video. Wish I was in Jackson Wy.
Again, with my total fascination with Whistler, I bring you this little gem that I found.
To finish it off, here is a helmet cam from Josh Strang at the Ironman GNCC race. The greatest race in the world.
Posted in Joe's blog
Sunday evening. Wow, what a weekend.
1. Big MTB trail event at work on Friday, dedicated a trail to the memory of Chris Funk, huge bonfire and night time MTB ride.
2. Saturday, was all about trying to get my bike working after my FAIL at the GNCC race.
3. Sunday morning, I put together about 15 sponsor packets for the Vesrah Suzuki Offroad team.
4. Sunday, rode the RMZ 250 at some killer trails, that are just 30 miles from my house. Yippeee!!!
5. Sunday evening, washed motorcycles and bicycles. Yep.
So that pretty much sums up the weekend. Yes, it is pretty lame that in my book that constitutes a good weekend. But, alas it does.
On Friday we dedicated a trail at work to Chris Funk. Chris died last year, after battling brain cancer for years. We all still miss him. So, we took the most popular trail at the Trek Trails (Trad) and put up a monument on a rock to Chris and renamed the trail Funk. We installed the monument and had Chris’s wife Brandi out to show it to her. Chris’s parents were in town and they came out as well.
It is really apropos as he was one of the most popular people at Trek and that is the most popular trail out there. Now, every time I blitz down that trail – I can say hello to Chris as I terrorize his trail.
Glad I knew you Chris, we all still miss you.
After that memorial event, we did a fun TT, drank a bunch of beer, burned a bunch of things in a huge bonfire and then did some night riding and then drank some more beer. It was huge fun.
We even burned a crappy old Schwinn bike after we ghost rode it and tossed it as far as we could.
Burning Bike!
Liz and I were going to camp out at the trails, but we failed that. No real excuse, other than it was cold. Oh well, next year.
On Saturday, I worked on my motorcycle and found out that the slide was bad and all gonked up. I did figure it out, but I am embarrassed that it was so nasty inside that carb. That will not happen again.
On Sunday, I went riding at some trails on Bob Kau’s land. In a nutshell. HOLY SHIT THOSE TRAILS KICK ASS!!! Me, Brian Terry, John Buechner. Brian got a new Bike! He bought a LARGE full size bike. He says 250′s are for pussys, so he got a 450. Dang, he is fast on it.
Brian and the new bike! Big, but fun to ride. I think he will be fast on that.
Stack of team updates going to sponsors. Thanks guys.
So, a few more rides, maybe another race or 2 and then old man winter will be here. It will be just training in the gym and counting the days till the first race. Ugh…
Oh well, here goes
Out,
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, cycra, district 16, Dyracuse, Enduro, factory conneciton, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, ironman gncc, Joe Vadeboncoeur, Mark Junge, mountain bike, pirelli, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, zipty
Friday videos are back!
I only did 2 (well really just 1) GNCC race this year. But, if I had done them all, this would be my video. This came from the great guys over at Offroad Junkies.
Cool little MTB bike video I found. Classic song. Don’t you wish we had this trail nearby?
Posted in Joe's blog
As usual, Scott and I headed down to do the Ironman GNCC race. There have been years when we have done all the GNCC races and years when we have done very few. Even in the years with very few, we never miss the Ironman. It is THE classic GNCC race.
My bike looked sweet, ready for the race.
If you would just like the summary, it was dry. Super dry. Mike bike failed and I DNF’d. Scott won his class. It was a tough way to end my season, but it was not a complete fail, as at least Scott did well.
Josh Strang's bike was dialed and ready to go.
Josh had the coolest gripper seat I have ever seen
Josh loves his Trek
I have been riding super three last months. All of my races lately have just gotten better and better. I guess was due for a crummy one.
It had not rained in Indiana since august. I am serious. It was dust bowl dry. I have never seen s place so dry. The dust was insane.
On Saturday, I left at the butt crack of dawn to pick up Scott at the Chicago airport. He had arrived there early, and I had loaded up the van to collect him there and go straight to the race. We arrived at noon and unpacked the mountain bikes and rode a complete lap on the course. The uphills seer so powdery, we could not even ride up them. It was like riding through soft powder, sometimes up to your calf.
Imagine following that dust cloud into the woods.
The trail
We set up early on Sunday, then did a course walk with the Suzuki guys. It was cool to see the track with Josh Strang. He does not look at the course the same way that us mortals do. The things I was worried about in the trail, he did not even notice.
When my wave started, I got a medium start. Somewhere in the middle. But, as soon as we got into the woods, I begins picking off riders. I got myself to where I could see the front, but then my bike bogged and came to a stop. I kicked and kicked, and it finally started. I took off, and just 50 meters it did it again.
When I got it started for the 2nd time, I made my way to the pits. I thought the throttle was sticking. It was. I lubed up the cable thinking that was the problem, and headed back out. On the very next hill, I gunned it hard and the throttle stuck wide open. The bike launched into a tree, and tweaked the front end. My day was done.
Scott had a great day. He won his class. He is the first of the 2 of us to do that. Yet.
Proud Boy. He should be.
On to next year. I hope to have a new injected bike then. I will not quit going to the Ironman, until I score a top 5 effort there.
Out
Of course there were monster truck rides - why wouldn't there be?
If you do not have a monster truck, you build a monster golf cart I guess. Oh, and equip it with a rocking stereo that you can blast Hair Band music from the 80's.
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, cycra, D16, Dyracuse, Enduro, factory conneciton, fmf, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, ironman gncc, Joe Vadeboncoeur, Mark Junge, moose racing, National Enduro, offroad, pirelli, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, WIXC
I was meant to be leaving early tomorrow morning for the Steele Creek GNCC race tomorrow. But, I have had some work things get in the way, and have had to bail. I am more disappointed than when Liz ate all the cookies or even more disappointed than when I spent a whole month in a ski area in France this year and it never snowed (love Chatel any way though).
Steele Creek was one of the races that I have wanted to go back to ever since we were there in 2008. The story of that race is here. It is one of the most spectacular races on the circuit. It doesn’t have any big creek jump or anything like that, it does have a cool low bridge that you have to go under and huge huge hills that you have to go up and down. If it is muddy, dang it is tough. It has been super dry there this year, and supposed to rain the day before, so it could be perfect.
I have done a ton of bike prep work to get ready. Not that was all a waste, it all needed to be done. But, I did not need to stay up late for the past three nights to do it all. New bearings throughout, new grips, new brake pads, new drive parts, top end adjusted etc… The bike is dialed.
Mat is still going, and he is going to rock it. I will be following along on the live scoring. Go Mat!
I will probably go down to Bill Gusse’s race on Sunday at Prophetstown. It is sandy there, and should be able to run no matter what. Not the same as a GNCC, but it is still racing.
Later.
Posted in Joe's blog
Liz and I took a trip this weekend to California, Santa Rosa. Once there, we met up with a few people to do @levisgranfondo (www.levisgranfondo.com). The summary if you do not want to read further is that it was quite fun. Done.
Thats Alcatraz in the background.
If you do want to read further, here goes. Liz has not done a lot of domestic travel. As silly as that seems, she has done more international travel in the last 10 years than domestic travel. In fact, the last time she was in San Francisco was about 27 years ago. So, when we got into the rental car, the first thing we did was head across the city. There are ways that you can get to Sonoma county without going through the city, but that would have meant skipping the bridge etc…
We drove around the city, got lost and then ended up at Fisherman’s Warf for a fish sandwich and some clam chowder (heart attack in a bowl). We looked at the spot where the Coors Classic time trial started (dating myself, as that was about 20 years ago), then headed across the bridge. The drive up through Marin is always one of my favorites, and brings back memories of riding my mountain bike there and hanging out with Gary Fisher – many moons ago. (We were old then, what does that make us now?)
Made it up to Santa Rosa, checked into the hotel and headed out for a quick ride. Ben had set up bikes for us through Trek Travel and the local Trek dealer in Santa Rosa (Trek Bicycle of Santa Rosa). We went for just a short little spin, check out the bikes and to make sure everything was ready to go for the next day. Then we went over to the ride site and picked up our packets, signed waivers etc…
The ride crew for the weekend.
We had a great dinner at Riveira Ristorante. In fact, it was so good we would go back the next night as well. We decided it was close to our favorite place in Madison, Lombardinos. We were hoping for Mexican food one of the nights. As you know, I normally gauge my enjoyment of a trip or a place by the Mexican food. And, I normally do not ride my bicycle without having Mexican food within 24hours of that event. (If you are playing along at home, you just asked yourself if I must have Mexican food almost every day. That would be a yep.) but, it is pretty hard to pass up something that rivals Lombardinos, so there you have it.
Superman, Superhero kind of picture. I have lazer eyes.
On ride day, we were running a bit late so arrived at the start at the same time as the ride started. Pretty much rockstar status.
I hope we are not late.
The ride went through vineyards, through the redwood forest, along the Northern California coast, up and over a super steep grade (might be called Coleman Grade), back through the vineyard and then along the bike path home. We just did the 60 mile ride, there was a 100, but we decided that was plenty. Could have done more, but we might not have all finished with a smile on our faces. That of course is way over simplifying. Coleman is 18% in places. That is damn steep.
The ride didn't suck.
Weird!
Ya, the Northern California coast line is beautiful.
Liz cresting the big climb.
Liz said it was the best ride she has ever done. Could have been because she had her picture taken with Patrick Dempsey at the VIP tent afterward. The food was spectacular afterward.
We saw Bill and Liam, from www.fathersontour.com. Liam did his 1st 100 mile ride, and finished it with style I guess. I know he dug it, as he always does seem to like riding his bike. Good deal.
We drank too much beer in the beer tent afterward, rode home on the bike path a bit crooked. Dropped by the Trek store one last time and then back for more Italian. Woohoo.
Liz with some dude named Patrick Dempsey
Ben and Megan, clearly have had too much to drink.
On the plane home we got to hear the big guy behind us clear his throat every few minutes. That was special, and no wifi on the plane. WTF?
A great time was had by all.
Those Panda's had a good time also.
Posted in Joe's blog
Why do they charge me to check a bag, when everyone around me is bringing half of their wardrobe on the plane for free?
It has gotten so bad, that it takes forever to load the plane. People bring so much stuff on, that there is no way that many of those bags will fit in the bins above. So, they are taking things out, rearranging, shoving things back in, the flight attendant is frustrated and helping – nothing is working.
I understand why they are charging for baggage that is checked, I get it, they are revenue challenged and are scraping for money. But, their own policies are making travel not just a little bit more cumbersome and difficult – they are dramatically making it worse. There should be a charge for bags that you carry on, which would gain them some revenue (probably just as much) and would speed the loading and unloading of the plane. I do not know everything about running an airline, but from a frequent fliers perspective – this is stupid.
Airlines are Stupid!
And to top it off, if revenue is what they are after, then their own employees are doing them a disservice. When I checked in at the counter today, the counter person tried to talk us out of checking our bags because it would save us $50 (2 bags). That while looking straight at Liz’s bag, which I can tell you there was no way in hell that thing was going to fit in an overhead bin. What stupidity is that?
While we are at it, let me give you my nomination for the first people that should be up against the wall when the revolution comes. People that are sitting at the back of the plane who load in first and put their bags in the overhead bins at the front of the plane! They all think they are saving themselves time. In fact, what it does is make the loading of the plane take even longer. With the front bins full, the front seated passengers do not have anywhere to put their bags. That means they are trying to put their bags anywhere they can, sometimes 10 rows behind them. Then they have to stop traffic in the aisle and try to get all the way back up to their seats. Of course there is a domino effect to this, because they have now taken someone else space above their seat and they are now looking for other space around the plane. And, and, and, and, and…
Meanwhile, the person who put their bag at the front is sitting in the back wondering why these people have to take such big bags and why can’t this plane get going on time. Then, to add insult to injury their stupid bag placement choice creates a similar chaos and delay on the unloading as all those people hold up the line trying to get to their bag. All the while the offending bag placer is at the back being the last people off the plane and wondering why this sucks so bad.
Travel Idiots.
Posted in Joe's blog
Just looked at my tires after the race on Sunday. My front is shot. It was a Pirelli sand tire. It lived a good life, but it has had a few races and rides at Dyracuse. It is done, and it is time for the recycling heap. Time for a new sand front.
My rear sand tire is still in great shape. It is a Pirelli sand rear. It has amazing grip in the sand. It is like I am riding a much bigger bike. It has a couple of races on it, but since it only gets ridden in the sand, it will live to fight another day.
God I love this stuff.
out.
Posted in Joe's blog
Two Suzuki’s on the top step of the podium today at Dyracuse, the last D16 race of the season. Scott (@vesrahoffroad on Twitter) won the AA class, I won the +40 class. This is the first time in 5 years of going to races together that we have both won on the same day. And, we did it at Dyracuse. It feels good to win here. Neither one of us have ever won this race before.
Dyracuse is a great sandy old school MX track, surrounded by about 2000 acres of woods. The lap did part of the MX track and then into a section of pines that has been replanted in rows. It is 5 minutes of completely whooped out sandy singletrack through the woods. Up and down hills, zig zaging around the trees. It is hard and got really bad by the end of the race. Really really rough and the whoops got really deep and very squared out. After that section we went back out onto the MX track to finish the lap, then back into the woods. This section of woods started out with fantastic black perfect moisture dirt. Then into a super tough off camber long stretch that was filled with really tough rocks. Hard. Then onto a little Supercross track and then finish the loop and back onto the MX track.
Scott got a great start and then holeshot into the woods first, then I got the holeshot and got to the woods first on my line as well. 2 Suzuki RMZ250′s, with both of us in orange Moose Racing gear. It was beautiful.
I struggled on the first lap in my race in the rocky section. I got caught behind a slower rider from a wave ahead of me on a steep uphill section. The guys behind me went immediately around me and the other stuck riders and at least 3 people from my wave went through. I rode really hard and caught up to Roger Bird who was in 2nd. I was behind him for about half a lap. He was going pretty well, but was definitely going slower than i wanted to. He was pushing hard, too hard, and he bounced off a tree and went down. I slowed to a stop to see how he was doing, but he was fine, so I took off in pursuit of the leader.
I found him about a lap later and worked to get by him. Once I did, I tried to put my head down and check out, but he was glued to me. That is where he stayed for 3 laps. Then on the 6th lap, he took a smarter line around a rocky section and got by me and he tried to check out. He was going well, but then on the last lap I came around a turn and there he was stuck off the side of the trail. I assume that he had crashed there.
I finished out the lap and came across the line in 1st. Finally. It has been a long season with a lot of 2nd place finishes. I started the season by winning and now I have ended the season winning. I ended up 2nd overall again to John Buechner. He is very strong, and really fun to ride against. We are about the same speed, but he seems to make better luck for himself at the end of the race more than I.
My Suzuki RMZ worked great, Mark at Vesrah makes sure that the brakes are great on it, my Moose gear worked flawlessly, my Bell helmets are the best fitting ever, AJ at Victory Circle Graphix keeps the bike looking great, my Rekluse Core EXP clutch makes it almost impossible to stall… Everything worked like a champ.
I cannot say enough about my fitness help. Mary Daubert gives advice, Kathy Mock has written training programs for me, and Mary Grinaker works out with me once a week to check my progress and keep me on the right track. For a guy that is going to turn 50 in a few months, I am doing pretty well with all of this. Thanks everyone.
Now onto one more race for the year. The Ironman GNCC at the end of the month. I hate to say it out loud, but this is going to be the year that I crack the top 5 in my class there. I am fit, my bike is great, I am riding well… Yep, this is going to be the year.
Out for now.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Tagged Alpinestars, Bell Helmets, Crawfordsville, D16, Dyracuse, factory conneciton, gncc, Harescrambles, Honey Stinger, Joe Vadeboncoeur, Mark Junge, moose racing, offroad, pirelli, RM-Z250, Scott Daubert, suzuki, Trek, Vesrah, Vesrah Suzuki, Vesrah Suzuki offroad, Victory Circle Graphix, zipty
Vesrah Suzuki Offroad team update
2010 is almost done. It has been quite a season. A few GNCC races, a complete D16 Harescrambles season, a couple of National Enduro’s… Not all the results were as good as we were hoping, but in the end Joe will finish in 2nd in the +40A class locally and Scott will finish 2nd in the AA class. Not bad for 2 guys that have to travel a lot for work and missed 2 or more races on the season. There were plenty of great results along the way and many epic battles.
The team did its absolute best to represent along the way. We always put up sponsor banners at the race site and we always keep our blog site up to date.. Our blog site has received almost 60,000 visits this year! We are pretty proud of the little site and the traffic that it gets. We both try to put up blog entries and anything offroad oriented of interest. Our bike set up pages get a ton of traffic as do our twitter accounts and weekly blog entries One of our goals with our site is to link to your site and hopefully from there you see traffic. Check it out, it is a fun site.
As usual, we are already planning for next season, and have some big plans to make it maybe our most ambitious ever. (More on those plans later.)
Twitter – @joev3, @vesrahoffroad
We owe a huge amount of thanks to Mark and Nancy at Vesrah/Suzuki. They have been unbelievably supportive of our efforts to race locally and nationally. All of our sponsors have been super and we just cannot say enough good things about them and the products they have offered us. They are all great people and we truly love their stuff.
VESRAH SUZUKI OFFROAD TEAM SPONSORS
Vesrah brake pads
Suzuki
Victory Graphics
Pirelli Tire
Cycra plastics
Factory Connection
Magura
Rekluse (Joe)
GPR
Bell Helmets
Moose Racing
Honey Stinger
Alpinestars
Leatt braces
EVS braces
Zipty racing
Oakley Goggles (Scott)
Thanks for following along!
Joe and Scott
Posted in Joe's blog
Today’s videos are all about HS racing.
First one is a teaser of a great film called “Piecing It Together”. This is offroad racing in 5 easy minutes.
Scott and I are planning to ride the Perry Mountain 24 Hour race next year. We are going to do it as a 2 man team. Here is a video of the course in the day time.
This one includes night time laps. This is really going to be fun.
We can use 2 motorcycles. We will probably use 4. 2 set up for day time use, and 2 set up for night time use. We will need a camper (maybe 2), a few easy ups, a cook and a couple of mechanics. The first weekend in June is the date.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
There is a new movie called Life Cycles. Looks to be really kick butt. Here are 2 early views of it. Enjoy.
The official trailer for it is quite good, but here is another view of the movie that someone cut together.
Posted in Joe's blog
For the land of the free
And the home of the brave…………vroooom, vrooom…
It was almost like being at a GNCC race. 200 people on the line, announcements that you cannot hear and that do not make much sense, an almost 12 mile loop, a significant amount of spectators. Oh ya I forgot, this is not just a D16 race, but also a shared race with D23 (Minnesota). There is a lot more offroad riders there, or maybe it’s because they do not have a competing series in a sparsely populated state. Regardless, it sure is fun to have 22 people on your line.
The course at Dresser is at a small local ski area, Trollhaugen. Not sure where it gets its name from, I did not see any Trolls on the property. What I did see was
- 11.5 miles of sweet up and down hills singletrack
- a super cool little endurocross section at the finish area
- a semi gnarly downhill section with telephone poles down at angles and drop offs etc…
- several woods areas with spaced out trees and multiple lines that was very GNCC like
- no river crossings (so that made it not like a GNCC) – woohoo!
- incredible dirt. Must have rained in the days prior as the moisture content in the dirt was as perfect as it can be.
John and I had another epic battle. We trained off the front from our group right away from the start. We pushed and shoved our way through the groups ahead of us, and finally late in the 1st lap found ourselves able to race hard. We traded the lead back and forth, but neither one of us could get more than 50 yards away from the other one. We truly are exactly the same speed now. Our races are coming down to whoever makes the least costly mistake is going to win.
John fell over on the second lap, and I got by him on a downhill. I put my head down and went like crazy. Unfortunately, later in that same lap I fell over and gave up that lead. I was still ahead of him, but now he could see me and that was all the incentive he needed to make up the gap. Near the very end, in a sandy section, i pushed the front end over a berm and awkwardly came to a stop, that was all he needed to get by me. In the end I made 1 more mistake than he did, and that pushed me back to 2nd – although right on his tail.
This makes 6 races this year that we have finished right on top of each other. It is sure fun.
Next race is Dyracuse, and then we will be on to the Crawfordsville GNCC race. Wow, where did this season get off to? I know I have not gotten enough racing in this year.
out,
Joe
Here goes! It is Friday, I am sitting at home with nothing to do, so you get the benefit or the pain – whichever you would call it.
The first video is from the video crew that follows the Trek World Racing crew around and documents their exploits. We had them to visit a while back, and we took them riding at Dyracuse. If you fast forward to about 8 minutes in you will see a couple of minutes of us at dyracuse. Scott is in orange Moose Gear, I am in blue Moose gear.
This one is a bunch of crazies that just do not make sense to me. But, it is set to a great JFK speech.
Here is the Canadian Open Enduro race. This keeps up my fascination with Whistler.
That is all for now. Dresser race on Sunday. It is always a good one.
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Sunday was race number 2 at Crystal Falls. Some subtle modifications of the course, but basically the same layout as the day before. Yet, Saturdays deluge was replaced with sunny bright skies and a bit of wind. Since most of the area is sand, the dirt became fairly epic. And with the exception of a few areas that are going to be muddy for a long time, the dirt was perfect on the course.
After spending the morning cleaning the motorcycle, and working on the damage from the day before (I am not really sure how it actually ran the day before, as the air filter was completely soaked.), I discovered that I did not have any brake pads left on the front. I scrounged around at the race, and found a set of used fronts. Beggars cannot be choosers. In the end, most of the damage from the day before was superficial. Ready to race.
When the gun went off, John and I led out and checked out. He followed me into the woods, today I was not going to let him leave me behind. But, unfortunately I fell over right away in the woods. No big deal, just handed the lead right over to him. Soon after that, he tipped over and I went back around him. From there, it was on. The lead changed hands multiple times on each lap. One of us would get stuck in a slower line, and the other one would go through. Interestingly, neither one of us could get away when we got to the front. It seemed pretty easy to make up ground on the other one when you were behind, but once in front – getting away was just not happening.
About halfway through, either John was getting desperate or just tired. Either way, his attempted passes were becoming more aggressive. One time he went inside of me to a line that did not exist, and we ended up completely tangled up. I was almost completely off my motorcycle and onto his with him. I do not know how we did not go down together on that one. Another time, I was ahead again, and fell over in a rut going uphill. He slammed into me and then toppled right onto me.
We laid there in a heap, 2 bikes, 2 riders all tangled up. If we were not so tired and both so determined to win that day, it would have been comical.
After that, John got through a lapped rider in a tough section that I was forced to follow the lapped rider through. That put a 5 second gap between us, and that was how we finished.
Oh well. It was super fun.
On to Dresser.
Joe
So after 3 days of no rain here in the UP, the sky opened up today. Go figure eh? Of course this is the day we were racing.
I drove over to Crystal Falls from Marquette, only about 1.5 hour drive. Of course it poured the whole time. It was raining lightly at the start, there were huge puddles everywhere. The valleys between the doubles and the whoops on the MX track were completely flooded. The woods had water running down the hills. The creeks we had to get through were flooding.
The MX track was deep deep wet sand. Tough to ride. The woods ended up very rutted.
Started raining really hard during the race and then of course stopped and cleared up at the finish.
I had to give up on my goggles about 1/2 of the way through the race. I am still picking dirt out of my eyes.
I have no front brake left. I borrowed some pads from JD Friebel, I hope they work. If they do not, I do not think I can race tomorrow. We will see when I put them pads in in the morning.
Oh well. It was fun though. I ended up 2nd in my class. The line was big, maybe 17 or so on the line. John Buechner won. That has become a habit with us. I could see him just in front of me at the finish. That has also become a habit – finishing just together.
Beat up bike, that hates me after the race. "Feed me some new brake pads, Seymore!"
Dang, I look good.
Scott's gear is only a little bit bad. I took mine off and threw it straight into the trash!
Scott's bike also does not like him.
Hopefully tomorrows race will be less muddy.
Out,
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
Poor Chad! The title above is the last words that I heard from him today. He was on the phone with one of his friends here in Marquette, Mi.
Chad Landowski went to high school with my oldest daughter Ali. He now lives in Marquette, and goes to school there. Marquette has fantastic mountain biking. Chad is a mountain bike freak. Chad works at Trek in the summer, helping Dwayne build trails on our property. His heart belongs in Marquette and on a mountain bike. Unfortunately, for Chad he rides with more gusto than he sometimes has skill. He has no shortage of heart…that is for sure.
We have been riding all week here, and Chad joined us today for a ride. He fell at least 3 times – hard, during a 3 hour ride. The first was a stiff washout in a turn. The 2nd time was by clipping a tree with his handlebar and ending up far down the side of the hill. The 3rd time was the charm though. He did, who knows what, and rag dolled down the hillside in the rockiest and toughest section on the whole ride today. Bad luck.
Chad, after the 3rd accident. Getting ready to head to the clinic for some stiches.
Dean also crashed hard today. Yep, those are tire tracks.
Doug from Vio sport rocked the Session around the XC trails
Room filled with fun.
Motly crew. Looking over towards Marquette Mountain, which we would love to be riding on.
We spent 3 great riding days at Marquette. The trails there rock. The local crew has done an amazing job with them. Every time I come up here they get better.
To celebrate a great work week, we went out to dinner at what turned out to be the best restaurant in Marquette. L’attitude is great food with a great atmosphere – right down by the lake. Then, we went to the beach and built a fire and sat around telling stories. There was lots of laughter, too much beer drank, a football tossed, people wrestling on the beach (yep, very high school I know), Riley telling masturbation stories (another story in itself).
What was really funny with it was the police showing up at about 10:30, with a complete camera crew in tow, and kicking us out. I think they thought they were going to be busting up a bunch of underage drinkers, and that was maybe what the film crew was for?…I do not know. That shuffled us over to Flanigans bar for some Karaoke.
Yep, I rocked the Journey. Don’t stop believing baby!
The girls. Ready for a night out.
Great restaurant "L'Attitude" in Marquette. Worst chairs in the world though.
Now I am off to Crystal Falls for 2 days of HS racing! Wish me luck!
Out,
Joe
Here are a few. I am still stuck on Whistler, but will get over it eventually. Maybe.
I was there during this week. That is how the riding was. It was sick fun. I wish I was going back with Liz next week, she is lucky as she is going to Whistler. I am stuck at work. Hmmm…..
This is another one of those silly urban downhills. It is an older one, but it was won by Renee. He’s cool.
I will have much more next week, as I am finally done with trip after trip to Luxembourg. Should be able to settle into a better rhythm now and especially get back to racing my motorcycle.
Out,
Joe
Posted in Joe's blog
I did not get to go to Crankworx this year, but it is always fun. This video is from the Enduro event, which I would love to do.
I don’t really care about this video as much as I care that the date stamp says January and look at the riding available if you are in NC. In Wisco, we will be under 6 feet of snow at that point. Ugh…
Brandon at Crankworx Slopestyle. Ya, we all wish we could ride like this.
As you can tell, I am consumed with Whistler these days. If I could be there now I would.
Posted in Joe's blog
This week Scott and I got a chance to participate in a really cool event. The Vesrah Suzuki Offroad team hosted the Trek World Racing Downhillers to a day of offroad motorcycle riding at Dyracuse motorcycle park. Tracey Mosely was not with us, but Andrew Neethling, Justin Leov and Neko Mulally (@andrewneethling, @teamleov, @nekomulally) were all great fun. The great people there at Dyracuse really put out the red carpet effort to make us feel comfortable and at home there. They opened up early for us, groomed up the motorcycle track, sent out a reporter from the local paper etc… Thanks a ton.
Downhilling a bicycle is a lot more like riding a motorcycle than people would think. What that means is that these guys were not slouches. Here is a little video to show what they normally do.
They can ride. We had all of our bikes out there, prepped and ready to go. We also had a camera and video crew with us. Some of the photos are below and eventually there will be a video that I can link to as well.
We rode and rode and rode. Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!
I also taught my friend Matt Pickersgill (@mattpickersgill) to ride a motorbike. He is 34 and never ridden one. I know, hard to believe. But, he is hooked now.
That is Matt, thinking about if he can do this. Nervous.
Out for now.
Joe
It has been a long time since I have posted anything here. I am sorry if you have been faithfully checking back, waiting for a post. I will try to make that up here, I will not be so absent again. I don’t really have a good reason for no posting, but I HAVE been really busy.
It all kinda started with the crash in Whistler. You may recall that I crashed really hard in Whistler in early July, separating my AC in my right shoulder. That really set me back. That was about 6-7 weeks ago, I have been training since then, but it is coming back really slowly.
This is what it looked like before it all went bad.
Byron HS
The Byron HS was a real old school HS. I am talking about really tight 90%woods 4 mile course. It was soft and it became really really rutted. So rutted that of course it was really really tough riding. This one was really hard to ride with my shoulder. I fell over a couple of times and that was quite the ordeal with a shoulder that was only about 50%.
I got a crap start and arrived late to the woods. There was about 18 people on my line and getting to the woods in 15th or so was a challenge. The course was mostly single track and passing was nearly impossible. At the woods I knew it was going to be a long day. I had my work cut out for me.
I managed to pass a few people each lap and ended up 5th. John and I were both in the +40 A class. There are a bunch of really fast guys in Illinois, especially in the A class.
But, I was completely shredded after the race. It is completely amazing what an injury and a few weeks of inactivity can do to your aggression and fitness. I have a long way to go for sure.
It was crazy hot on the line at Byron. I must have sweat out a gallon before the start.
Tight turn at Byron. The whole thing was tight, so calling out a single turn as tight seems silly.
Scott
Stone Lake HS
This was the next race on the agenda. The series had been to this venue before, but I had not personally. The first time around was when I was in Whistler with the family in early July.
Stone Lake is near Rice Lake Wi. I know, I know…the Wisconsin lake thing. It does get confusing. Anyway, Stone Lake is up in northern Wi. I love coming up here. The northern part of Wisconsin is a special place. The forest is great, and there are not many people. But, the terrain can be challenging.
Stone Lake was a long loop. 8 miles around. There was not a huge crowd there, only about 9 people on my line. The course started out on a really really great MX track. Great dirt, groomed to perfection, huge uphill jumps, really nice bermed turns. Yow. Then it went through some GNCC width trails. They were fast and furious. Then a great grassy field section and then 3 miles of the toughest roughest rock infested trail I have ever raced on.
Of course it rained the night before the race. It is ME at the race after all, so it has to rain. The rain didn’t hurt the MX track or the fast trails. But, the rocky 3mile section was murder with mud. I am talking standing up 100% of the time, trials type riding over wet slippery rocks that are flipping your bike right and left. It was a workout.
I got another crap start (seems like my shoulder injury has turned me into a week starter). I fell trying to get off the MX track, but pushed anyway and got up to 2nd before we got off the fast GNCC type trails. I was passed by a guy I did not know going into the rock infested part of the race. For 2 laps after that, I could still see John and that 2nd place guy on the MX track when we would get back to that, but then my fitness fell apart and I went backwards.
Oh well. Those are not too bad of efforts for a guy with a bad shoulder. I am starting to feel closer to 90% now, so I think I should get back to the front after this.
JD ripping
My Girl Gang
Me, but not going anywhere near JD's pace
Yep, that is about how well it went for me.
Out,
Joe
It has been a while since I put up much on the blog site. I have been super busy with work. 2 trips to France in July, our worldwide sales meeting etc… Wow, time have flown by this summer.
I have not done as many races as I had wanted to. But, fall is coming and for the months of Sept and Oct, I will be racing almost every weekend. Looking forward to that.
Anyway, here are a few gems that I have found on the web.
That first one is a great little video that I found of a kid who can rip on a no pedal bike. Impressive. You can see where the next generation of kids that ride flow courses will come from.
That is my favorite bed intruder cover.
If you were wondering where that came from, this is the original made from the raw footage from the news story.
Whistler DH this week. Wish I was there.
One last video to show why we all want to go to Whistler.
That is it for me today. Racing starts again this weekend, so we are psyched to get back to writing about racing.
Joe
I was there. I saw a few things. Here is a highlight video, that shows what actually happened in the race. (could not get it embedded, so you will have to follow the link – sorry).
Here is my video from the tour. You will see that, mine is not nearly as exciting.
enjoy
Joe
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