Monday, May 18, 2009

Taking Stock...

MG in "Yunto" during lap 5 of 6 at the Platte River Battle Royale. Photo by T. Nelson. See more of Troy's Platte images here.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind past month... Let's see, in four consecutive weekends, here's the score:
  • JP's bachelor party in Moab -- mountain biking nirvana, everybody wins -- 4 weeks ago
  • TransIowa v.5 -- 314 miles of gravel roads in Iowa, 8th place overall -- 3 weeks ago
  • Platte River/Psycowpath Battle Royale -- 2nd place in the 'marathon' division to a very strong and determined Corey Godfrey -- 2 weeks ago
  • Branched Oak 12-hour MTB -- 2nd place solo to the impressively fast youngster, Lucas Marshall -- this past weekend
Lumpy from the MTB Goatheads blog posted this cool video from the Branched Oak 12-hour:

In the video, that's race promoter Jim Craig and I shaking hands at the front of the pack as we roll-out, just before the neutral roll-out ends and the true racing begins. Good stuff... Thanks again for the video, Lumpy!

It's been a fun past month of riding and racing. Though I don't have a firm total, I estimate that I was able to get close to a thousand miles in on the bike during the past month between riding and racing, and that's a pretty good month for me... perhaps one of the best ever. For that I'm extremely thankful.

I could not have done any of this without the support of my beautiful wife Laura, or my sponsors, Salsa Cycles, Monkey Wrench Cycles and Oakley. Whether it was my Salsa Big Mama saving my tender behind out at Branched Oak, my Oakley Flak Jackets repeling sweat from the lenses so I could continue to see for 31 hours straight during TransIowa without a single lens cleaning, or any of the parts and service I get from the guys down at Monkey Wrench on a daily basis, the companies I'm working with now are as good as it gets and I recommend their products from first-hand experience. My lovely wife Laura, on the other hand, is one-of-a-kind... top of the line. If it wasn't for her, it would be a lot harder for me to be me. I realize that makes me very fortunate and so once again, I'm especially thankful.

Looking forward... Memorial Day weekend:

It seems like forever since I've had a weekend spend with Laura and just ride and catch up on things around the house. I guess it's pretty typical for this time of year... You go all winter with just about every weekend free, but now it's just slammed to the hilt until about October.

Well, this Memorial Day weekend, we're doing something different -- we're staying in Nebraska and playing it low-key. We've just been "on" for too many consecutive weeks and it's time to rest, recharge and focus on getting some projects done at home. Yep, it'll be perfect.

The Bacon Ride will be starting up Sunday @ 6am from the Mopac trailhead at 84th Street in Lincoln. This is a good one... Ride out to Platte River State Park for the brunch buffet, then back to Lincoln. It's an 80-ish mile round trip with good times all around. Don't miss it.

Hope to see you out on the trails soon.

Cheers,
MG

8 comments:

jim craig said...

Have a great weekend. Off to Vegas to get my oldest daughter married.
Might look at a 3 or 6 Hour at Wagon Train later in the season.

Guitar Ted said...

Congrats on the killer month of cycling you just had. That's really an awesome month right there!

Hope to see ya soon in the 402

mw said...

nose to the grind stone still for me.

MG said...

Congratulations and have a great trip, Jim. Thanks again for hosting such a fun event out at Branched Oak. I'd be totally into a race out at Wagontrain later in the season. That'd be sweet!

Thanks Guitar Ted. I sincerely appreciate your kind words. Perhaps I don't quite have the killer instinct I had when I was 25, but it's nice to know I can still get the 'ol motor going when I want to. I'm looking forward to getting some hangin' time with you soon, my friend. I'll definitely make time for you whenever you're around.

MW, I look forward to catchin' back up with you soon. Hope I can extract you for a ride this weekend... Sounds like you might be able to use it. ;-) I still need to hear how the Gravel Conspiracy went for you too...

Thanks guys,
MG

GNAT said...

Sheesh MG and MW, you guys are putting in serious miles. I feel fortunate that I got one ride in with you guys. Thanks to each of you and Lincoln crew for inspiration.

One of these days I hope our paths cross again.

MG said...

Oh yeah... They'll cross again. Soon too. ;-) Have a great weekend, Jason!
MG

Cornbread said...

Great race at Platte Matt. I was in constant fear of you catchin' me.

Also, nice work at the 12 Hour and the whole month of May for that matter!

MG said...

Thanks Cornbread. You were rockin' it at Platte. A well-deserved win, and no surprise after your impressive ride before you pulled the plug at T.I. You had a killer ride at the Gravel Conspiracy too, with your 2nd place finish. Nice!

It was good to ride with you Sunday on the Bacon ride, my friend.

Cheers,
MG