Interbike...Part III

Things are winding down. People are standing around shooting the breeze, and consuming the frothy beverage. It has been an awesome trip, but a long trip. ELETE is rip'n it up. People are hearing the good word and placing big orders. That's cool!! I firmly believe in this product and back it 110%. Good people + Good Company = Happy Customers

I am pretty much done working the booth. I will help tear it down, then head to the airport at 9:30 to catch my 11:40 flight back to Chi-town. Hope I can get some Zzzzzz's on the flight, so I can get some bike time in these next few days. Hard to believe that next Firday I leave for Japan. WOW!

I saw some more sweet products today. One that I have been waiting for, for along time is Hammer/E-Caps came out with a nutrition bar. It tastes great, and is filling. Best part is that it is only 220 calories, and low on the fiber. ETA for this product to be available to the public is Mid-October.

Over at Tifosi they have a ton of new shades, and colors. Also have some shades that the lenses changes color based on the light conditions. THat is sweet. No more need to switch out lenses anymore. ALso have a set of Pink shades inspired by the pink panther herself....Heather Mosely. See the link in the side bar.

Last night was a Giant Bicycle Happy Hour. Lots of cool people! Beer consumed...but not by me. I have some Monkeytron pictures that will make you laugh your azz off. Stay tuned for the pictures tomorrow.

Ran into the Blue Collar guys...coooooool dudes. They have their heads on straight. The link to their site is in the sidebar.

Ok, I need to jet out. People are waiting to use this computer.

Jeff Kerkove said at 3:13 PM :: ::

Interbike...Part II

Just got back from Ergon. They have a new twist shift compatible grip, and the new magnes. bar end version. Both feel really good. Should have the new magnes. bar end grip soon. I'll get you guys some feedback.

Ran into Nat Ross and Patrick from the Kona Global Series. They are hunting down sponsors for 2006. They said next year will be huge!!!!

The Tifosi booth is jump'n! Everytime I go by it is swamped with dealer placing huge orders. I hope I can get som time with the Marketing gal to say thanks! They have a great product at a killer price point. Check 'em out.

Let me check...
Yep, still don't like sushi

Ran in to Ernie...SoloGoat. He is in good spirits and has talked to a few sponsors. He looks to be way excited for 2006.

Time to go back out on the floor. I have till 3 PM thn it is time to spread the ELETE love!

Jeff Kerkove said at 1:35 PM :: ::

Interbike Part I

What's up!

I am going to make this fast casue I am using Ivan from Cole Wheels computer. Check this out...Cole is coming out with a carbon mnt bike wheel soon. The entire rim is carbon! No alloy at all, The hubs have sealed bearing,,,as do all the Cole wheels now, The wheel is in testing, and the way it sounds now, Sloane and myself will be trying these soon, Also note...these are some of the lightest production mnt bike wheels I have touched. Stay tuned. There are some great things to come from Cole in 2006!

Stopped by Giant to lick,,,errrr....touch the new Anthem. VERY SWEET!!!! I am so pumped to see this new platform, I will have pictures later.

At Cateye I got my hands on a new HR monitor. I was not aware that these were coming out, They have 2 models...one for $80 and one for $100, I get more info later, Lights are looking good, and HR monitors are HOT!

Maxxis has a few new tires. The coolest thing...Ignitor in 26 x 2.1. You ask and you shall receive. I aso have pictures to be posted.

Still have to talk to Tifosi.

Looking for a shoe sponsor. Lake has a new carbon sole mnt and road shoe that is custom molded to your feet, Looks very appealing.

Last night was Sushi with Curiak, Karl from RIDE424.com and a host of others. Hashed out some details. I will get more out later. Oh, I hate sushi! Not my thing.

OK, that is it for now, I need to talk to other sponsors and say thanks on the behalf of Sloane an myself.

I post back when I can.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:44 PM :: ::

Here's the Plan...

Get off work tonight.
Get home and do laundry.
Pack up for Vegas.
Set coffee machine to go off early AM.
Hit the sack.
Wake up.
Drive to Cedar Rapids, IA.
Prepare for my first ever plane ride.
Fly to Chicago.
Switch planes.
Fly to Vegas.
Hop off and meet Val of ELETE.
Sit back and take in everything that is Vegas and Interbike.
Knock over the Campy booth and simply say...."Oops, My Bad."
Eat Sushi with Mike Curiak...and a host of others
Become one with the Giant booth
Try to stay 'sane
More TBA

The next few days should be good. One of my biggest goals is to track down all my contacts at the sponsors to the right. With out these people, I would not be going to Vegas...or Japan. Not to mention it's going be cool to hang out with a bunch of the other racers/bloggers. The evening eating Sushi with the Who's-Who of endurance racing should be great. Trans-Iowa 2006 will be mentioned. Some stuff is already being posted on the race site.

This will be the last post till I find a computer in Sin City.

Stay tuned...and thanks for the feedback on the redesign

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:02 PM :: ::

Shhhh. I am going to ride.

Keep quiet. I am going to go out and ride. I am whispering so the rain God's do not thunder down on me. I has been raining for the last 48 hours. At this moment, it is 59 degree, and NOT raining. Time to gear up to get down. This will be that last ride for a few days, cause starting tomorrow I'll be in Vegas looking for Monkeytron.

I was surfing this AM while thundering coffee and hit up D'Swan's site. He got some TV time to show we Americans how to get it done in the CX course. Mad prop's to the Nature Valley guys for educating the public.

Also, scope'n out the roster for the men's solo field at Moab. My teammate, Sloane, has a really good shot of winning that death march. Should be a good race! I wonder where C. Chambers is at? Have not seen or heard his name for a few months. Hope the dude is OK...

Oh, and if ya like mnt biking the way it used to be...i.e. not rockless and rootless...I highly suggest getting over to SW Wisconsin for the Blockhouse Roll. Lots of climbing and organic singletrack to make anyone smile. Here is all the info!

So. The newlayout. Like? Dislike? I am not sure about the header yet. It might change later.

Time to go ride!

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:35 AM :: ::

All it does is rain.

Let me see...

Yep it's still raining. Has been for the last 48 hours. I really need to get out and ride tomorrow, otherwise I will be bike free for over a week with all the up and coming travel. YIKES!

I am just posting to let you know that the creative juices are dry, and the blog header will be on hold for a bit.

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:27 PM :: ::

Ultra Fast.

Just about time for work.
Morning ride got rain'd out.
Crap.
Still raining.
Double crap.
Hope to get out for some gravel to New Harford Hills on Monday AM.
Anyone want to come along?
New blog design coming soon.
Layout is up...Header coming later.

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:33 AM :: ::

What'a Saturday.

What'a gloomy day. I don't think I saw the sun once. I was at the shop all day, so it was good it rain'd all freek'n day in my opinion. It was kind of a bummer, cause there was 2 fund-raising rides happening. One a bar crawl...one not. The one Europa put on was cancelled. That's a pain, cause a lot of work was done by some of our crew. There is always next year.

Speaking of the bar crawl ride...
I had a couple come into the shop after buying a 20 in. bmx bike and a Roadmaster from the Goodwill next door. They said they forgot their bikes at home for todays ride. Ah. Yeah. Riiiiiiiight. So the guy asked if I would air up his tires so they could continue the ride. I did. They headed out the door on 2 shady bikes...I wouldn't have ridden them. Without helmets. And the smell of booze on their breath. Brilliant!

Do to the weather, work was slow. Slow like bad legs in a 24 hour race. It did stop raining around 3:00 and we started to pick up. Sold some Ergon grips and handed out some ELETE to this swell couple that came in and said they read the blog. That is cool.

The Customer of The Day Award goes to the guy who was from Seattle...so he says. He was bitch'n cause we didn't have rain gear. I told him this is the first day it's rained in like 4 months and most people here don't ride int he rain. He was still in a pissy mood. He then wanted a carbon fork for his Trek touring bike cause he said the ride was harsh under load. He then goes on to tell me he is riding 700 x 23's on his touring bike. Brilliant! I show him the C-Dale touring bikes we had in stock and their tires (700 x 38's). I tell him that these are what he should have and that it would give him better flat protection and comfort. He looked at me like I was on crack. Then he catches the Tour tape running off in the corner and tells me and A. Lo how he spins 80 RPM and that his legs are huge...like Lance. Then to top it off, he pulls up his short legs to his nether-regions and flexes his thighs and claf muscles. I sat their speechless. Oh, boy. That is all on that piece of work.

After work it was home to eat some grub for the mnt bike ride tomorrow AM. We are heading up to Ingawanis from Cup of Joe at 7:30. Unless it is pouring rain, I'll be there.

Next up was a trip to Wal-Mart at the worst possible time. I had to grab some grub for the flight to Vegas and some other items for here at the apartment. Mostly just a lot of this in the Chocolate flavor-flav which I am addicted to in the worst way. I bet I eat 3-4 of these a day. After the yogurt I had to grab bread. The bad part about the bread is that it is in between the processes frozen beef products and the Little Debbie Snacks. So I had to squeeze my way through all these large people wearing NASCAR t-shirts, sweatpants, and bunny slippers. Not a good time. I got out alive....but barely!

Tomorrow is ride followed by work. Then.....to Vegas baby on Tuesday AM!!!

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:58 PM :: ::

Random-onium

Got a whole bunch of stuff to chit-chat about.

As seen in yesterday's post, I was not recovered. Well, the easy day paid off well, as my legs felt great. I headed out this AM for some dirt intervals thru the single track thru George Wyth. 5 minutes of all out effort followed by 2 minutes recovery. This lasted for about 90 minutes. After that it was back to Europa Cycle and Ski to put some bikes together and help out the folks walking thru the door. It was at work, that I check my e-mail and got this great news to share with all you enduro freaks.

Here is the e-mail...

Jeff Kerkove said at 4:02 PM :: ::

Listen.

"Listen" is an important word in sports. As in...Listen to your body. It will tell you things. Last night I didn't sleep all that well. I was toss'n and turn'n. Plus, throw in the fact that we where have some crazy humidity going down. So, I was pretty much sleeping in my own body swamp. Yuck! I am sure i am not 100% recovered from Tuesdays effort. And at this time of year, listening to your body is super important. So today, all I did for a ride was 1 hour of easy spinning at a sub-120 HR. I feel pretty good now. There will be no group ride for me tonight. I am going to plan on rage'n tomorrow morning if my legs feel a bit more spunky. My words of advice today: Train Hard. Rest Even Harder.

As from seen on the post below, yesterday was also an easy day on the bike. Must not have been easy enough though. After yesterdays ride I got back home and ran up to Hy-Vee and scored some bananas and $1 Power Bars. I had some time to kill so I sat on the floor and did some stretching while watching Kill Bill. Yeah, that movie made me want to go out and do some crazy Kung-Fu. So much so, that I did at work. It was good times.

Yesterday, my Thule bike boxes showed up also. Some minor assembly is needed to get the wheels on the dang things. So sometime tomorrow that will get done.

Other than that, the next few days will be spent getting things dialed in for Interbike, Japan, and working on some team kits. Right now I am managing my time between the following: Training, working at Europa, designing 4 team kits, and travel. I am a busy person.

Speaking of Europa. Carl sat down and got all creative on the Europa Cycle and Ski website. That's great, cause it was long over due.

Ok, it's time to ultra cool and hip. I need to do laundry.

*sigh*

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:07 PM :: ::

Recovery Spin...in photo form.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:43 AM :: ::

Overhauled.

This could be a good thing or a bad thing. But, my personal saddle of choice for my mountain bikes...the Fizik Nisene...has been redesigned. It would be pretty sweet to get my booty on 2 of these for next years race bikes. I am going to have to talk to my Fizik contact.

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:05 AM :: ::

Tuesdays Training Ride Stats.

Ride Time: 4 hours, 26 minutes, 19 sec.

Average Speed: 18.4 mph

Distance: 81.66 miles

Max Speed: 35.0 mph

Bike Used: Giant NRS Air with slicks

Time I Left the Apartment: 2:15 PM

Time I Returned Home: 7:25 PM

Number of Times Up Look-Out-Park-Hill: 20

Number of TT Laps Around George Wyth State Park: 5

Number of Bottles consumed with ELETE: 7

Time Group Ride Started: 6:04 PM

Number of Riders: 4 (Me, Robert Fry, Stone, Adamson)

Average Speed During Group Ride: I don't know! It was always over 20 mph when I looked.

Bugs Caught in My Eyes: 5...give or take a few

Bug on Shower Floor From Getting Stuck in My Helmet: 8

Did Todays Ride Hurt: Yes!

Number of Time My Legs About Blew Up: 5 or 6

Number of Times it Burned: Many!

Number of Times it Itched: Never.

Strongest Rider Tonight: Toss up...John or Stone. Hey, How about me. I had 3 hour in my legs before the group ride and still survived.

Hammer Gel Flavor Used: Vanilla

Air Temp: 85 degrees

Riders Not Wearing Helmets: Too Many!

Tomorrow: Recovery day. Walking to work.

Funiest Thing I Saw Today: A lady about tip over on her Trek 7100 going up hill cause she had it in a HUGE gear. SPIN PEOPLE!!!

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:10 PM :: ::

Get'n ready to Rage.

Today is Tuesday. I have the day off from the shop. I got up this AM. Slammed some black goodness. An entire pot to be exact. Ate a bit of breakfast. Took in a few ELETE Tablytes for todays ride. It's supposed to be warm...about 85 degrees. Went and applied for passport. Had to expedite it to get it in time. It cost me almost $200! I had to take an oath. That was a first for me. The lady that helped me was super nice. Got home downloaded some tunes for the MP3 player. Here is a small sample to what I will be rage'n to today...

• The Clincher by Chevelle
• Brother by Dark New Day
• The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson
• Rockafella Skank by Fatboy Slim
• Extreme Ways by Moby
• Where's Your Head At by Basement Jaxx
• Holiday by Green Day
• Block Rockin Beats by Chemical Brothers
• Many tunes from Godsmack
• Many tunes from Static-X
• Many tunes from Seven Dust
• This Love by Pantera
• Harvester of Sarrow by Metallica
• Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz
• Plus many, many, many more

Details about todays ride to come later. I think today will be a mnt bike on the road group ride. Ooooo, what a treat!

I was looking at this picture last night. Walker appears to be running a 1 x 9. Interesting.

Also thinking about re-designing the blog.

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:35 AM :: ::

Good Monday to all!

Going to make this entry to-the-point.

Thule Bike boxes have been ordered.
I have 2 of them coming.
Figured I might as well buy them, cause I'll never know when I might need them again.
Got's to love pro-form!

FOX racing shox has a new website with all the new products.
Got's to love 32mm legs for increased stiffness!

Got some course info on the 24 hour race in Japan.
Looks to be a short lap, with minimal climbing.
Not super technical.
These are the tires that I was suggested to give a whirl.
OK, sounds good.
Rumor is that rain will be bad on this course.

Need something to do on the evening of Nov. 12th? How about a mnt bike race....at night...on the best trail system in all the Midwest? CHECK IT!!!!

If this person is going to be at InterBike, how much is she being paid?
Does this sell tires? Really, is this great marketing?

Coming to the USA in 2006!

Today I have the night shift at the shop with Carl.
Will be going out to do some riding before work after the roads dry off.
Will walk to work again. It takes 35 minutes. I feel refreshed.

Last week I moved into the new apartment with the 'sis and one of her friends. There are 2 stories to this place. We have the top floor, and the people below have the bottom floor. I guess the lower level folks is a real life version of Half Baked meets Mall Rats meets Dumb and Dimber. Nice. Someone said that this place used to be a church. So the entire plcae is HUGE! I could ride lap inside this place. Here are some pictures...



So that is that. Time to go out and spin. Then head to work. Tomorrow is my day off from the shop. Going to try to get Passport and huge miles in tomorrow. Hope there is still a planned road group ride on Tuesday night.

Are we still doing Tuesday night hammerfest's???

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:47 AM :: ::

Resistance Training

Headed out this AM at 7:30 with Carl for some road action on the mnt bikes. This time of the year, the rides are short and to the point. Everything has to be a bit more specific. Energy and bodily functions start to get weak after a full season of training. So, no junk miles. Todays ride was to add a few suffer points, and work on consistant power through the pedal stroke. During the 3 hour ride today, I did a few attacks on hills, and a few other hard bursts. The legs felt great. Soon as I walked in the door I was shoving some scrambled eggs and a few ELETE Tablytes down my pie-hole. I am really digging the Tablytes. All ya have to do is pop a pill rather than drink like 4 gallons of an electrolyte drink. Carl should have some pictures up on his blog soon from the ride.

In other news...
Most likely not going to the Rapture in Misery down by Kansas City. Want to keep the body fresh for the Japan 24.

G-Ted made some mention of Trans-Iowa on his site. Are you racing in '06?

Also working on a bunch of different team kits for different people. The creative juices are flowing like a fine wine right now, so it shouldn't take long to get that stuff pumped out.

Must get passport on Monday. And pictures taken for the 'port

Still not sure how I want to fly my 2 NRS bikes to Japan. Thule has a box. But there are other options out there to. Has anyone seen or tried the Thule box?

OK, that is enough. Time to get ready for a fun filled day at Europa Cycle and Ski with Carl.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:35 AM :: ::

A Product Review

Time for another review of some of the gear I am running this year. I am a firm believer that if a product works really well to tell as many people as possible. Well, the Hayes El Camino disc brake set is one of those products. I received these brakes to use at that "one race" up in Canada. But as we all know, I didn't go. That's another story. Anyway, I got about a week on these brakes before I ended up using them to take first at the 3rd Annual Iowa 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race.


The El Camino might just be an endurance racers "must have" brake set up. Why? Well, it's light weight, durable, and has many on the fly adjustments. Most noted is the dial on the front of the lever. This adjusts the power. What is great about this feature is that as you fatigue later in the races, you can turn that dial to get more braking power with less effort on your part. Brilliant! So at the Iowa 24 when my hands and arms started to get tired I just turned the dial and instantly got awesome brake feed back.

The other dial on the inside on the lever allows you to adjust brake lever reach on the fly. If you have huge hands or tiny hands, the lever can be adjusted for you.

Oh yeah, and the fluid reservoir is in the brake lever. How did they do that? Amazing!


Also got to love the tiny caliper! The calier is dual piston, so that means that both pads move when the lever is squeezed. The power and modulation that comes out of this brakes is amazing. There is more open air space in the El Camino which helps air flow thru and cool the brakes. It's also really, really easy to center up the caliper for rub-free riding.

Overall, the Hayes El Camino is tops on my list. Yeah, the price on the brakes set is pretty steep, but you get what you pay for. If you can drop the coin, I recommend it.

For more info on the brakes check out the Hayes El Camino site.

If you have specific questions, please ask them in the "Comments " section.

Time for work.

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:50 AM :: ::

Planning...and beyond.

Until mid-October I will be run'n and gun'n. Next weekend is the Rapture in Misery down by Kansas City....maybe. I am not sure if I am going to go or not right now. The reason I say this is cause I was recently offered a trip to Japan to race in one of the larger 24 hour event in that part of the World. Missouri...Japan. Missouri...Japan. Hmmmmm. I think Japan sounds good. I want to make sure that I am fresh for a chance to stand on the podium.

In other international travel news...My teammate, Sloane, will be taking a trip to Italy in May of 2006 to rage at a HUGE 24 hour event and pimp the Double and Triple Shot lights. Sweet!

I have been looking into some details on how to get gear to Japan in one piece...plus my gear...and now, a passport. Thule I see makes a bike box that looks to be a nice investment. Anyone have one of these? How are they? Not worth the money? The great Solo Goat and Monkeytron say to get one of these. Cool. Can't EP one though like I can from Thule. Ahhhhhh, the madness

Speaking of up coming races. I just got my hands on 3 jugs of Hammer Gel. I got my fav's....Raspberry, Apple, and Espresssssso. Me likey. I should have enough other nutitional product for the rest of the year. Which I might add, ends at the end of October.

Also have Interbike coming up in less than 2 weeks. I can't wait. Bikes, Vegas, bikes, SRAM girls, Monkeytron, and a chance to say thanks to my sponsors in person. I'll spend most of my time at the ELETE booth, but also might be spotted at Giant, Cateye, Ergon, and the slot machines.

Oooooooo! We have a Tour highlight DVD running here at the shop. Lance just smacked his man sausage off the top tube of his Madone after hooking his bar on the fans feed bag. Nice.

For the rest of the weekend I will be here at work. Might try to get to Camp Ingawanis on the mtb on Sunday morning or ride down to Dysart on the road bike. Any takers?

Time to actually work.

Jeff Kerkove said at 4:03 PM :: ::

Wahoo! Back Online.

It's a done deal. The cable internet is hooked up and flowing sup'a fast. Also spent waaaaaaaay too much time setting up a wireless router, so my sister and other roomy can surf from their rooms...the bathroom....middle of the street....etc, etc, etc. After a few hours of cursing, calling the local Mac store, and more cursing, I finally got it running. I am not a computer geek, unlike the guy at the computer store rattling off these computer codes like I can rattle off Dura-Ace cassette ratios. Since I got this fast connection I was able to update the software for my Mac OS X operating system. Sweet!

Training is still on track. Did 50 miles yesterday at a TT pace. My legs felt really good today, so after the router hook up I went out and did some hill work, followed by the group ride. There was only 3 of us tonight. Nothing really hard since the group was a mixed bag of talent...and it's a group ride. No reason to leave anyone out in the boonies. Overall, It was some time to work on leg speed.

On the racing side of things...
Things got turned upside down yesterday. One minute I was planning on 24 Hours of Moab. The next minute I am looking into getting a passport, and a way to fly 2 bikes and gear to this location for a 24 hour race on Oct. 8. Wow! What a interesting last few days. Nothing is set yet, but I will keep everyone posted.

Time to surf in high speed.

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:29 PM :: ::

A fast one.

I am at work.

I did 50 miles on the road bike this AM.

It was all intensity.

One huge 50 mile TT

Ouch! It burns! Oooooooo.

My legs felt really good.

Can't wait for the Rapture in Misery 12 hour next weekend.

InterBike is the weekend after that.

I am go'n to hunt down the 'Goat and get his autograph at InterBike

Hope to attend the launch of the Giant Anthem at InterBike

I like rocks

Might do the 24 Hours of Moab.

Might also become a world traveling endurance racer...stay tuned.

We got our cable hooked up yesterday.

We have 500+ channels....can you say Endurance cyclist turned endurance TV watcher?

I will have internet tomorrow in the new apartment after 1 pm.

My last few posts have been worthless.

Good luck to those racing in the She-wam-a-gone race up in northern WI.

Time to get back to work.

Normal blogging and e-mail coming tomorrow.

Wahoo!

Jeff Kerkove said at 11:47 AM :: ::

Almost...

Almost hooked up to the net. I am still blogging to you from work in the early hours of the morning. Should resume normal blogging and e-mail functions later this week. Thanks for hanging on.

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:01 AM :: ::

All Moved In.

Yep. It's official. Moving sucks more than anything has sucked before. To make matters worse it was like way hot yesterday...92 degrees. Swamp ass conditions were in the extreme range. It took me about 7 trips between the old apt and new apt to get everything moved. Not to shaby. But...it still sucked. Now I am all moved in. Everything is where it needs to be. I walked into work today, and will walk in as much as possible. It's only a 30 minute walk and most of it is on the bike trail and sidewalks. Viva la human power!

Now I am chill'n at work updating the blog, getting caught up on e-mails, check'n out the latest cycling news, and soon to be looking for a ISP for our apartment. Hope'n to get DSL....or I should say....anything but dial-up.

That's it. Time to find a ISP.

Jeff Kerkove said at 9:26 AM :: ::

Going into Hibernation.

FYI blog readers...
I am switching apartments on Saturday (9/10). I do not have internet access at the new crib yet, so blogging will suffer for a few days. Hope to get settled in this weekend, and resume normal training again on Monday. I need to find another 24 hour event this year. And ideas? Moab? I wonder how A. Lo's new scooter is treat'n him?

And....
Just in time for Interbike!

Jeff Kerkove said at 4:19 AM :: ::

Picture from Iowa 24 Hour Mnt Bike Race

Jeff Kerkove said at 10:00 AM :: ::

Blog of the Month!

Well, it appears that this blog keeps gaining more and more attention. The folks over at Bike Blogs have handed me the honor of having the blog of the month for September. Sweet!

Go check it out!

Thanks guys!!!

Blogging will now go into hibernation mode for a few days. I am moving, working , and spinning. Well, really I am just moving my bits and pieces.

Stay tuned.

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:26 AM :: ::

Rambling....

Here is just a bunch of random stuff to take up some space on the blog...

Still have not been back on the bike yet since the 24 hour effort on Sat/Sun. I have been taking some 1 hour walks to keep the legs from getting stiff. Just using this messed up week as a mid season refresher.

My Cateye Enduro Teammate, Sloane Anderson, updated his blog with a recap from his 7th place at World's in Whistler. You can read all about it here.

Enrie, a.k.a SoloGoat, has a updated blog with his ride to glory at World's. Go read it!

I have about 90% of my apartment cleaned and backed up. Moving is not fun! I will spend all day Saturday lifting, grunting, and sweating while moving into the new apartment. I am not really looking forward to it.

Interbike is a go! I talked things over with the folks at ELETE and we got everything lined up. I get to fly to Vegas. This will be my first time in a plane. Yep, you read that right. Should be interesting.

I want a Giant Anthem.

I was sent some awesome shades from Tifosi to use at that one race...then I got banned or something. But, I have been using them training, and at the recent 24 hour in Boone. These are great, cause they are so light. I can hardly tell they are stuck to my face! Say hello to my new fav set of eyewear...Tifosi Forza

There are a bunch of random pictures from the 24 hour race in Boone at the DM Juice Website. They even were lucky enough to snap a picture of the sup'a fast Swiss National Champ.

One of my co-workers, A. Lo. , got himself a scooter. You know what that means.....MOTOR PACING! I wonder if he knows that yet?

Lets see here.....
I got an e-mail from Ergon regarding a new grip they have out. It uses Magnesium (spelling?) and has a larger, more hand friendly bar-end. So, we can all expect it to be lighter in weight. There are a few pairs in route to Europa Cycle. I get some info up when they show. If you have not had a chance to try these grips, I HIGHLY suggest it! They might be a bit heavier than a traditional grip, but the comfort more than makes up for it!!!!!

OK, that is enough for now. Maybe more to come after work.

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:11 AM :: ::

Giant Anthem 2006

Here are some picture I got in my Inbox. I am not sure if these are USA bikes or not, so don't get your hopes up when you look at the specs. I was given an invite to the Anthem launch at Interbike, so when I know....you'll know. Looks to be a sweet ride. Please keep the drooling to a minimum. I want. I want. I want.

Jeff Kerkove said at 6:40 AM :: ::

The days after.

I feel pretty good, considering I race my mnt bike for 24 hours on Sat/Sun. My legs are a bit swollen, but that always happens. Also, the balls of my feet are a bit tender, and of course I have a bad case of monkey butt. Other than that, the only other thing that hurts is when I bend over to pick something up.

The last 2 days have been massive amounts of sleep. Almost 12 hours per day. I do feel refreshed. I have also began to pack up some of my items and clean my apartment for the move out on Saturday. Today, I went into the shop from 10 to 3:30 and assembled these crazy recumbents we got in with full SRAM X9 and Avid disc brakes. Way nice rides!!!

What else is go'n on...
Eating. Lots, and lots of eating. Fig bars...I'll eat it. Bunch of bananas...slam'em all down. Yogurt...give'me 2 please. Peanut Butter...Oh so good.
Must....stop....eating. I think my body is telling me something.

Tomorrow, I might try to get back on the bike for a light spin. It all depends on the weather, and of course my butt.

As of this moment, my next event looks to be the Rapture in Misery 12 Hour Race down by Kansas City, MO. The race will run into the evening hours, so I'll get to rage the Cateye Triple and Double Shot again.

Also, planning a trip to InterBike. Right now, looks like I'll be chill'n with ELETE, Ergon, CatEye, Giant, and a host of others.

Stay Tuned!

Jeff Kerkove said at 3:43 PM :: ::

Race Report: Iowa's 3rd Annual 24 Hour Race

Just got back from another 24. Mission accomplished. I went in looking to win...but that is not always guarenteed. I did come away with the win, but not with out some pain....suffering...and a good push from DQ. Below is a recap of the race. Enjoy.



On Saturday AM, I followed Carl and his wife Amy down to Boone, Iowa. He to was going to be racing solo. The last time he raced solo was this same event last year. We left Cedar Falls bright and early for the 2 hour road trip so we could round up some primo pit area right off course.

We got to Seven Oak Recreation Area around 8:20 AM. This gave us plenty-o-time to set up pits, lay out food, meet and great with other racers, discuss equipment, and for me...plan the attack. The pit lay out was good. I had DQ and Noonan to my left and Carl to my right.



When we were about 1.5 hours from race time I started to eye the competition. These would be the people that I thought were able to be a threat and pull off a strong finish...if not win. My list included the following...Noonan from the Kona Enduro Team, Coach DQ, and Carl. With the weather forcasted to be almost 90 degrees, I planned to push hard the first 5 hours. I wanted to try to suck my competition into thinking they had to follow at my pace. With the weather being hot, I figured this might lead to cramps, and dehydration for my competition. To be able to do this, I had to prepare for the heat...drinks lots, double to almost triple the dosage of ELETE and Endurolytes.

Now, I am going to try to give a lap run down as best as I can remember.

Laps 1-5
The race started at noon. I was about the 10th person to my bike...DOH! DQ and Noonan both headed onto the course before me. I had to get in front of both of them before the tight single track of this course, since there is not many places to pass. About 300 yards in I got around DQ. Then I had to fight around 5 people to get behind Noonan. Once behind Noonan, I shot around him to get into the single track before them. Once I got into he singletrack I went into a comfortable XC pace. The lap was like 7 miles of tight, twisty, off camber singletrack with lots of little 5-20 foot steep climbs. I maintain my pace, to eventually catch Squirrel who was in the very front of the race leading his 4 man team. I came in from Lap 1 and grabbed a fresh bottle, and more endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue. I pushed on through the rest of the 4 laps and this pace. I felt good, and everything was working great on the bike.

Lap 6
On lap 6 I got a flat on my rear tire about 1/2 miles from the end of the lap. I had a thorn go thru my Maxxis Mimo tire. Instead of fixing in on course, I aired it up with the CO2 and rode it back to the pit. Once to the pit, I fixed the flat and grabbed some food and more nutrition. I also inquired about the status of my competition. DQ was like 20 minutes back, and Noonan was down even more do to bike/flat problems. The rest of the solo riders where doing their own thing. Turning lap after lap after lap.

Laps 7-9
By the end of lap 7 I had lapped the solo field but for DQ and Noonan. These few laps hurt! About half way through my 2nd lap after the flat I started to get weak and lose my power. My speeds started to slow a bit and was just not feel'n real well. I was thinking to myself that I might have gone too hard and did myself in. I kept pushing on. I was mashing rather than spining. Things were not good. The negative thoughts where going through my head (as they do with all endurance racers at some point in a race). I managed to keep going. My speed was not where I wanted it. I was informed that DQ was making time on me. I almost had DQ lapped, but still needed 10 minutes on him to achieve lapping him and the entire solo field. When I came in after lap 9 I was pretty hungry. I was craving sugar. I ate a bit of pasta with olive oil and salt, about 6 oz. of Coke, and half a Powerbar.

Laps 10-13
Wahoo! The amazing results of sugar and real food! About 20 minutes after I ate the food, I started to feel great. I was light on the pedals, and catching alot of the team rides (all but Cam, cause he's sup'a fast yo!). I came in from lap 12 and saw Noonan sitting in the pit. He was done for the day. He said he didn't feel well plus he was have a run a flats. DQ was also in from a lap grabbing some nutrtion and heading out for another lap. So it was official. I had a lap on the field. All I had to do was damamge control, meaning keep riding and making sure no body makes up time or laps.

Lap 14
Night time has come. My first lap of racing on the full on Cateye "shot" light setup. I was running the Double Shot on the helmet and Triple Shot on the bar. I was able to keep my night laps fast. This light setup thows out some great clean and white light. Pretty amazing technology. Just like at 24-9, I had people comment on the brightness of the light. Due to the tightness of the singletrack and all the sharp 90 degree like corners, the bar mount wasn't really doing much. So for the rest of the night riding I just ran the Double Shot helmet light with its 5 hours of run time.


Lap 15
Oooooo, my stomach. During lap 15 my stomach was not being cool. I had a gut ache, and needed to use the bathroom to do a #2. I got done with lap 15, and informed my pit crew...Mom and Dad...that my stomach was being stupid. I had a big enough lead, that I tried to take a #2 but that was a no-go. What ever was being a pain in my gut had to come out. So, I ran behind the car with a plastic knife and self induced myself to empty my stomach. The result...



Lets see here, what do we have. I see some Powerbar, some pasta, and fruit punch flavored Gatorade Endurance. I can't really tell...is that part of a Clif Bar in the lower right corner? Ah, who knows. Don't forget about the stuff that got soaked into the ground/grass.

Lap 16-23
After I took care of the business above, I felt like a million dollars. I headed out for more laps. I had some interesting events on some of my final night laps. I saw DQ sleeping on course. I didn't wake him, cause he was in second and this let me get more time. I came around again, and he was still there. I got in from the lap and told his pit. They were concerned. I did another lap and finally DQ was back in his pit area sleeping for the rest of the night. He did not look well.

On another night lap, I came across Carl who was still pushing through the night. His lights went out. So, I rode behind him and used my Double shot to get us back to the pit. We got back to the pit and both refueled, and headed out for some laps together. We rode together for a few laps. Even had Chuck H, who was on a dominate 2 man team, rode a lap with us.

For me, the race was pretty much wrapped up. All I had to do was do a few more laps to guarentee the win. I did some more laps... while watched the sun come up during one lap...and did more damage control. DQ, who was in second, and slept away his lead. Carl, who rode through the night had moved into 2nd...but didn't know it.

In the end, I did what I needed to do to win. I ended up with 23 laps. I stopped riding at about 9 AM, but still stayed in my gear just incase I needed to go out again. Carl kept going to guarentee his 2nd place. The 3rd place rider...and Iowa State student...was still charging and riding really well. Carl ended up with 21 laps, and pulled out 2nd place. He got paid for his effort, so that means he is now so-pro.

Overall, it was a great event! This event will only get better! Thanks to the guys at Irwin's and 7 Oaks for a great time! Also thanks to all those yelling encouragement at me on course and going through the pit area...it means a lot. Thanks again to the sponsors for rock'n equipment, and to my parents for their nutritional distribution skills.

Here are some great quotes/comments/sounds from the weekend...
From numerous people: "Man, that World's thing is a joke. Glad you're here."
While riding with Carl on a night lap: "My ass hurts."
Unidentified rider: "Geez man, you're over half done. Slow down now."
Squirrel: "Dude, nice monkey."
Team rider Chuck H. while riding with 2 solo racers: "Now, this is more my pace."
Sean Noonan of the Kona Enduro Team watching me barf: "So this is what your solo guys do to make it. Gross!"
DQ while sleeping on the course: [insert snoring noise here] yes, DQ you were snoring when I went by. Hope your feeling better.
Numerous riders: Grunting noises while trying to get up all those steep hills.

And...
How did I get home you ask? I drove home after the event while slamming down 3 cans of Red Bull. I still fell asleep at 10 minutes after 5.

It's time to rest up. The rest of the week will be messed up, so blogging will be sub-par. I am moving to a new apartment, planning the rest of my race scheule, and a trip to Interbike. Stay tuned for updates and pictures from the race. There will be post relating the 24 hour race at Carl's site and JY's site.

THANK YOU SPONSORS!!!


Other endurance related results...
Sloane gets 7th at a mud filled World's
SoloGoat rages thru mud and crap to 2nd at World's
Soiled Chamois ignores pain to pull off a 4th at 7 Springs.
and Carl got paid!

Jeff Kerkove said at 2:58 PM :: ::