Becca and Nate's Adventures

2009-02-17T18:21:00.003-06:00

Console
Stock fronts, not that great of tires, still drivable.

Rears, snow tires in good condition. Staggered set up.

AC Schnitzer knob.

Miles.

2009-02-17T18:15:00.002-06:00

6-disc
New K&N

Engine bay

Door ding

Door ding, have the jack caps...

2009-02-17T18:12:00.001-06:00

Rear looks like no one has been in there ever.
All lights work, now.

A little spider webbing on the drivers seat.

Fender bump again.

Different angle.

2009-02-17T18:04:00.002-06:00

^^ This is the dent on the front pass. side fender.^^
New foggies (new) and headlights (used).

With sunroof.

1998 Arctic Silver.

2008-05-29T21:03:00.002-05:00

This is how our first races went. With a lack of high intensity training thusfar, I looked/felt like a fish out of water. Wifey was physically and mentally cracked, obviously.

We were both pleased with how the races went... considering. I was in a good place, closer to the goal anyway, during the first race until the pit got me and I straightened my bar so my fork was backerds. Second race was going well until I got my first flat ever while racing. The Small Block 8's hooked like mad, controlled drifts and all. B stated the newish Ziggy was a dream and can't wait for ski hill races for some reason.
Just a cool pic from our Icelandic friends. They enjoy powerlifting and strongperson competitions; starting youngsters early.
Silly snow in April. Was it May? Either way I bloc-ed out the white.
Next on the agenda for us: more slow training, a coupla summer classes for myself, planting oodles of plants, work ending for the year, a race in St. Croix Falls the day before everyone else does Afton and cuddling. Awwww.

2008-05-27T14:01:00.003-05:00

Last post in Feb...?
Oh well, racing started, then stopped. Mechanicals both MNSCS #1: muddy pit of dispair got the best of me, screwing with my stem and Cable off Road Classic, flat at mi 19. Both were good learning experiences and the CAORC course was a fun one. I learned guys who pop from the lead group like to whistle when others pass them up. Shady behavior at best. More impetus for me to do work.
My fitness at this time of year is coming along. At the Cable race I ended up behind people who's single track skills were less than mine because I could only grind and gut out all the hills/flats. My top end is planning on getting built for the later season races. Whatever though, killing oneself is fun however you do it right?
Becca and her fitness are coming along the same as mine. She can tempo til the tangerines are teriffic, but top end is lacking. She has moved up to expert for the MNSCS races and looks forward to the added challenge. The Ziggurat is her newest love and hardtail mtb's go with her attitude. Do work.
Pics up and coming, we really don't photo that much since we have phenomenal memories. The KENDA Small Block Eights are a great tire for most all conditions. They are like sandpaper. Twin Six stuff finally came and look forward to a real jersey to add to my Schrute Farms Beets jersey. Until later, with pics.

2008-02-02T10:33:00.000-06:00

This is the 'right after I got my thumb caught in the garage door while it was opening' photo...
Seems to be coming along nicely after 3 weeks right?
These are Becca's new creations, she is one talented babe. You'll notice we've added a new Sponsor/Helper section to our blog as we are gaining allies in our atheletic endeavors. We thank those who are willing and able to help us out!

Becca is about to boil over as we are in the midst of winning a frame/fork/post combo which will lighten her bike up significantly. She has a hard ass for her hopefully new hard tail mtb. I don't know if my spine full of cockeyed discs could handle that pressure, unless of course I was on a BB. Stay warm and I'll try to keep Becca on the lower end of crazy as the mtb bidding comes to a close.

2008-01-15T18:49:00.000-06:00

New ride! Eat it Chris.

2007-11-18T09:52:00.000-06:00

Above is the look I thought I was giving during the MN state Cx race yesterday, sidways even. I gave it my all, had some fun, and think these 4 races were good for mountain bike training. Trained us to go faster, be more agressive and take the race by the sruff of the neck and shake it. During this recap of the race I'll print what song is playing on shuffle, right now, TV on the Radio.

Get to the venue a little before 10 to register and warm up, etc. Out the car and brrrrrrr... a bit cool in the park they call basset creek. In the chalet type thing, a silver fox comments on my breathe right by saying, "we have BRs for sale at the end of the counter, oh wait, you already have yours on." What a great sarcastic comment, I appreciated it. Son Volt is on now. Regestered, bikes put together and ready for a recon lap. Being our 4th race on the cx circuit ever, we didn't know what to expect for the state race. Big Turkey gave us the low down, but things apparently change in the hands of Hollywoods crew. Fun course; stair run up, power climb, sorta techy switchback downhill, long bumpy head windy sections, et. all. Pink Floyd, Pigs now. Becca to the course to continue the process of bringing blood to the extremities, Nate to the car to get out of the wind. In laws come, Beck. Ready for the C start at 11. Cold. Windy. Should have rode more outside to get the breathers conditioned. Too late now. Whistle blast and Becca is off. She'll say more on her race later, with podium results?!?!?!!?!?

Nate back to the car to try to warm up, not really into it as friends poke their heads out. 11:20am getting ready for a 11:45 start. Had to stop and chat with Bob Brown, Barry and Ali and the call of nature. 311. After looking like I was warming up, time to be at the start line. CX races are weird to me because we just sit at the line, don't start on time, and bide our time before frost bite starts. Whatever. Start: people flailing on the smallest of hills, grabbing gears, searching for wheels, wondering how grav hills could be so tough. I stood up and sucked in air deep knowing I'd go into my reserves during these 35min of chaos. Pete Yorn. I'd pick up guys here and there, try to suck on their wheels on the straights and out corner them everywhere else. Some would come by as I didn't have it on the flats for some silly reason. I thought my barriers were sweet until this happened

in an altercation with my pedal on a remount. Didn't hurt until the finish. Regardless, the penultimate lap came sooner than I thought, counter had 3 and I guess there were 2. Okay, time to go. I caught some guy in a Superior jersey, some other dude and had my blurry eyes on (Wilco) a Tonka dude who had blown by me like I was a chubby 5th grader a couple laps prior. Last lap burst was not enough as he held me off by 5 seconds or so. Proud of myself for bringing him back from about 30-40sec though. All in all, fun lap, almost as good as Porkchop, but not quite! I'd like to do the pro thing and thank my sponsors and supporters for this great year of challenging myself to the limits of sanity. Radiohead now. Shout out to My wife #22, Schrute Farms Beets, In laws, bikes with wheels and chains, food, water, beds, stretching, intervals, other blogs to instigate more training, and cheering sections (Cloud crew, Rebecca and Lonie, Bob and Beth, Barry and Ali, Rick, Jo and Erica). Bright Eyes. Postal Service. Good bye for now, Becca is up next with her recap of the days events. Phish. Mountain Goats. Thanks to Skinnyski for this:

2007-10-28T17:49:00.000-06:00

"Oh what do we have here, in the middle of the trail, at Crow Hassen Park Reserve?"
Yes!!! It is a big pile of crap!! Must be mountain bikers because they tear the stuff out of and poop right on trail, unlike our equine friends and their (stereotypically) snooty owners. What I didn't take pics of was the Ore2Shore-ish sand pits where the horseys left their hoof marks, after walking no less! I guess a winding ribbon of sustainable 18-24in wide singletrack is too destructive. More evidence that our Amurica is not suitable for two wheels, unless those 2 wheels are on a Hummer that is taking an exit ramp too quickly.
Lets just look at these works of art instead of looking at crap.

Next up for us: Our 1st CX double. We are excited to kill ourselves twice. As of now, Sat looks chilly and rainy, could be epic. As epic as a 45 and 30min race can get I guess...

2007-10-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

My home school. Bringing it back a few. The location is in Rapidan, south of Mankato.
I guess our camera blows when trying to take close ups, I'm the kid in the glasses. Yes I was picked on, made fun of, sat on by fat 4th graders. Made me who I am today. Didn't get into team sports because I was fat and had/have poor functioning feet.
Still in the glasses. Kid on my right is probably one of the smartest people in history. I'm positive he'll run the world someday. Our class was 24 strong and most of us went to school together for the lifetime of our free education. We'll post more nerdy, unfortunate pics later. Including mullet Becs. Weird seeing where we've come from eh? Town of 250? That is me. (ed. That WAS me.)
Try this link: kvsc.org

2007-10-27T11:38:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how tired Becs and I get on Fridays. It was her 30th Bday so we went to Mongos in the Cloud. Pretty good food in our opinion. Lots of fresh veggies and decent people. Prices are not close to those of Bravos, but this is a different type of place and we don't spend money going out often, so it was a good treat.
Today has been spent relaxing and preparing to hurt ourselves during training. Also putting more music onto the puter. We are a little slow in the tech department. Deftones are going on as we speak. Hexagram and Minerva are pretty solid tracks.
Emailed professors with a picture of a bike in the background to motivate me. Not sure what my problem is, but I don't like to do that crap. When I do get done with the classes and student teaching, I'll get a 300% pay increase with my first job. That is ridiculous, would most likely be living in a hut if I didn't have a sugar momma. Fear factory is going on now, pretty funny 'music', but often, this type of stuff is situational for me. Becs is watching a show about unintelligent anorexic models. No good. Green Day.
Since it is so nice out now, time to pant and suffer in preparation for the double weekend next. We do believe in working hard during race weeks too. time is out.

2007-10-24T20:58:00.000-05:00

Emma smiles when I pet her. She gets really excited when we are around. B's dad is going to be all right. Infection is clearing up and will be up and around sooner than later.
Single track menace Big Turkey.
Apparently Big Turkey is going to Mah Dah Hey with Schlict Dogg and maybe somone else. They are going to have a great time, however, B's 30th bday is the 26th of Oct and I will not be joining them this year. My question to them is: Who is going to fix Lances bike when it falls apart? Big T's bike sounds like a boy going through puberty who also has ADHD and Tourettes. Other words: Not quiet.

Other Other words: Jen Dooms 10th period.

2007-10-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

Mix:

2 eggs
2 c. warm water
2/3 c. powdered milk
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. honey
3-4 T. natural/unsweetened applesauce

Add:

2 c. wheat flour
2 c. oatmeal
1/3 c. wheat germ
1/3 c. oat bran
1/3 c. ground flaxseed
2 T. baking powder
1/3-1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/3-1/2 c. peanut butter chips

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes...devourb

2007-10-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

Becca the slick MTBer. Top 10 at the long races in 08. She doesn't want me to say that because she will have to be accountable to the blogosphere. I say, until you let yourself learn to post, you are screwed, I say what I want. Nate trying not to sell the full suspension and trying to look cool. Nice locked out elbows and vest. Vest looks better in person, total pro.
Aren't we hot? Nay, we are dorks.
Full squat mode, turning the screws. Rode the 'zipper' at the North Loop today. Pretty proud of my singletrack babe. Just took three brief lessons at her instructional level and some ovaries(bjh).
Nala, the princess, after the great day on the dirt.

Riding dirt on days like this (55, sunny, no wind, no skidders on the trail) make us wonder what everyone is doing on the pavement in the summer. Who knows?

What we know is our suspended bikes felt like they had 2x the travel after riding the CX bikes everywhere for the past month. We'll be at the next couple CX's so our skillz increase to help with the billz.

2007-10-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

This is the view from the dock at the lake. We love it up there. We spent the MEA break at the cabin in the rain and 50deg temps relaxing and recovering from the first 6 weeks of school. Built some barriers to hop over in the driveway on Friday after the rainout Thursday. B is going to bunnyhop them soon, i can feel it. Still having difficulty justifying 50 bones for 75min of racing cross. Next year will be different with Bec having her license and both of us jumping to the biggest races we can do. More like 40 for 115min of racing. Good.

These are big, thats what she said. Lost 40. 350 year old towers. Way up nort der, but worth the trip if you are not planning on going to see the sequoias any time soon. B and I hugged a specimen and still had a 2 foot gap betwixt our paws. Circumference baby.
There is not a floating date in the lost 40, our camera did it so don't be scared.

In other news, we sent off our first resume for sponsorship possibilities. We'll see what happens with this attempt. At least we had fun putting together the whole shebang. The team we sent the resume off to looks like the type we would want to be associated with.

Enjoy the nice clouds and drizzle this Sunday. Time for us to clean the place.

2007-10-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

We are going to the cabin, can't wait. Rain Rain Rain up there around Aitkin you know, whatever. We are tough and like to train inside. Some riders poopoo training indoors, but we take the ride as a mental game. We usually win since I've done as much as 6 hours inside. I know, crazy? Maybe...
Have a great MEA break educators and get on the bike!

ps We may do the cx race, haven't decided that yet. Sounds fun though...

2007-10-16T21:10:00.000-05:00

we're back, for the most part. not that anyone reads this anyway, but we've been super busy with work starting and school starting. I'm in 2 courses this fall semester, 431 and 421 SPED and B is doing her masters thing. Just think, she'll have it this spring. She is a genius. Work is great, kids are funny and there never is a boring day.
CX season has started and we are in a sort of funk right now. Started to feel a bit sick this last weekend so we didn't do Boom Is. Unfortunately, the course looked like a lot of fun...
Also, going up to the cabin for some rnr, MEA is upon us so as educators, time for relaxation. We plan on bringing the cross bikes and building our own race course complete with barriers and run ups. We know, we are dorks, but being dorks is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than being like everybody else.
Until later, maybe not so long from now this time. NAH

2007-07-26T21:08:00.001-05:00

Ahh yes, fruit farm rd. Nice and peaceful, away from city. Had to drive it this night because becs was at book club with female family members and being male, I didn't attend. Saint Johns students get something for their exorbitant tuition, peace. The local cloudian riders should group up to get mtn biking legal in the woods of saint johns. Great place for a lapped epic of sorts??? hmmm... the friars, or priests, or clergy may frown on dirtiness with spandex and possibly tattoos.

it is official, have to take everything in the cycling world with a grain of salt now. raaasssmmuusseenn, astana, and various others are not letting me have someone to get excited about in the tour. whatever, those guys couldn't paddle a boat to save their lives. those guys couldn't hike the mummy range with no pack. those guys, does it matter I guess that I and my wife are tougher than the people who stoop down to the level of doping? feel and embrace pain. I don't care if everyone else is doing it and doing it levels the playing field, are you a middle schooler? I have no sympathy for the cheats. I don't think winning a race is more important than honesty and self respect.

Enough of that, cheers to all of the riders in the 24hrs at 9mile race. don't have a light set yet, but I still wouldn't do it if I did. maybe this way I'll finish in the top 15 at red wing. goal is for a top half this season. going for it at either spirit mtn or jail trail(home race). If I fail at my goals, time to inject other peoples blood into mine. nah.

2007-07-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

Myself
Erica (nice chin!)
Jo (with WONDEROUS tote bag) and
Sleeping Beauty (favorite spot on couch)
All tried in vain to get Rick to not eat fatty butter on everything. Alas, he is an 'old man' and is stuck in his ways.

This site is pretty relaxing. North of Aitkin, south of Hill City and west of Palisade is our lake. Technically we don't own it, but the speed boaters and jet skiiers stay in the Whitefish chain, so we get calm glorious water. It is a little weedy, perfect for bass and for creepy crawlies. Get out into the middle of the lake and we swim all day. I kind of tread water since I was fat and embarrased as a child, never learned. I have to pick up the front crawl one of these days to keep up with becca in triathalon.

2007-07-24T11:34:00.000-05:00

Sadly, we had to surrender Neko back to RAGOM. He was a great companion and we will miss him immensely. Surely he will find another good home, but nothing compared to the love he got from us, Becca especially. If you want a dog with endless energy and love for people galore, adopt Neko.

2007-07-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

This is Jack the cat, he wakes me up every morning at 6am. He thinks he needs pets and cuddles at that time, I try to reason with him, but he is a cat. His gene pool was shallow, but we still love the crap out of him. Being fat and sheddy, he is one of the best cats in the world. If you don't like cats, then F you.

2007-07-17T20:51:00.000-05:00

This is Neko, apparently Japanese and Italian for cat, but what are you going to do? He is Becca's dog. She loves him, I just like him still. He takes attention away from me, I must be jealous. Not. Borat humor there, keep up.

2007-07-17T20:43:00.000-05:00

This is Nala, she is our street cat. She loves me the best because I sit and pet her. She is soft and cuddly. What a great life she has.

2007-07-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

See if this works, if so, this is our nephew, he is awesome. His name is Isaac and will be much taller than us since his dad is about 6'12" (his words, not ours). Until later when my headache subsides. NAH

2007-04-25T17:27:00.000-05:00

oh my, ebay is super annoying. I have a block on our account and they won't let me in. They stated they needed an address from 4 moves ago. I told them to shove it. Not really, I told them to update their technology to automatically know when I am on the move. They should have to keep up with me right? Wrong. Update your addresses. Save the hassle of 'live chat'. Lesson learned. Time to root around for 5 year old papers...
First road race ever this weekend. Beauty and I are waiting for what kwmr has to dish out. I love the S mn wind baby. Being from Rapidan, I know what it is all about. Prepare to be used cat 5 dudes. Should be a great time, LB says this is fun one, not too tough. until later
Listen to Sufjan

2007-04-23T13:33:00.000-05:00

Hooray!!! I did it!!! I posted in our blog!!!

2007-04-20T14:44:00.000-05:00

It is just this easy B. Don't worry, you'll get it. Don't be afraid of the blog. Is someone going to chastise you? No. I love you though.

2007-04-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

Just checking on doing this http://c6rs.com

2007-04-12T11:23:00.001-05:00

We got a computer, hold on...

2006-10-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

This is the first of many we are sure. Until later...