6 hours of kettle

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Lessons, endurance racing is full of them. When I do an endurance race it seems like I learn something every time. This time I learned the hard way!

The race started out a bit harder then most 6 hour race Ronco blasted off the front to take advantage of a slight pile up in a poorly place. shikane. I get into a position I have become far too used to this year, trying to chase down the lead group in no mans land.

After a bit I let them fade and decide it is better to wait it out then to try and keep their pace by myself. So I get into a comfortable grove. The first three laps are solid 55 minute efforts and I am feeling good. I have picked up three riders out of the lead pack and have a solid pace, little did I know I was now in third.

At the beginning of the fourth lab I notice my self spelunking a little deep into the pain cave, so I start to eat a bit more. This was a mistake, on the 5th lap my stomach starts to do somersaults on me. I can’t eat anything this lap, I finish the lap in a respectable hour but I am not feeling to hot. I ask the judges if I have time to do another lap and they say I had an hour and 9 minutes.

So I go out again, the minute I hit the trail the fourth place guy rolls up behind me, We do a bit of chit chatting and I ask him if he is a series rider and if we were racing for anything, I decided to let him go as I was really starting to feel bad. Then it happens my head starts throbbing, my stomach is a disaster and i have no strength at all, yes, I bonked. I have had worse bonks in my life, but it was a good reminder of how bad it sucks.

The last lap was my slowest by 12 minutes, I rolled in three minutes too late for my lap to count. I also lost three place on my pain march pushing me from 3 to sixth. It wasn’t how I wanted the race to end after feeling so good for 4 hours, but at least I learned what doesn’t work for me.

Iola Bump and Jump

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Prove yourself, thats what every one face says. Prove your season is going to be good, prove that you deserve to race elite, prove that all that beer you drank over the winter instead of getting on the trainer didn’t matter. The first WORS race of the year alway has this feel. You can see it in their eyes, actions and mannerisms. I try not to let it bother me, I joke with Abbey about the free beer in the Mafia racing tent “I will just take one now and watch you guys inflict pain on yourselves”.

Sometimes at the beginning of a WORS race I think to myself, why do I do it? What does this mean to me, the question really hangs at the beginning of the season. I could just go ride with my friends and enjoy myself.

GOOOOO! Whoa snap out of it Cory, lets get a move on! Maciej rockets up the hill in a blaze of glory as we head up and down hill into the winding single track. Damn these guys are moving I think to myself.

As I pick a rad line I enter one of those wonderful moments of clarity one can get on a bike. I come to the realization, as I swoop through a sweet line of single track, I race because I love the rush of barely making a corner at a high speed, I love the exhilaration of just holding on to a corner and not letting that guy ahead of you pick a better line then you, and I love the clarity and perspective it gives to my life. I do it because it is pure freedom.

I hang mid pack for a few laps, and think to myself they will burn out soon. I keep a difficult but comfortable pace and ride my own ride. Smooth in the single track and fast in the double track. Keep it consistent, that is how I like to race.  Problem with that is this is Iola, in Iola there exist a different way of racing a type of racing I historically suck at. It is called giver till ya puke.

I hit it hard for a lap and my lack of speed training smacks me right in the gut as I watch the people I passed walk away from me. Not yet I tell myself, wait a few months and it will be a different story.

I finished the race a little below mid-pack. Actually one of my better Iola finishes. As I said earlier me and this race have a sort of history. If this race were a girlfriend it would be the tough un-rewarding kind of relationship that just lets you know that you should really date some one else.

Thanks to Mafia Racing who gave me a beer to help with the break up, and helped me to see I could do better. 

Feel The H8

Sunday, April 12, 2009

The H8tr has been called many things since it inception, The hell of the south, MBM, and the H8tr; notice easy is not one of them! Today I would have called it rebellious.

I have had a pretty good history with the H8tr, the year of it’s inception Nine and I pulled off a huge win. Last year I was lucky enough to place 3rd after 6 hours of sleep and jet lag from a business trip. This year however it seemed the residents of H8trville were not on my side.

The race started out innocently enough, Djonn handled the pace out of town on the parade start leading eighty riders down the South West commuter trail, in Madison. Once unleashed Jesse Lalonde laid down an intense effort that stretched the field like taffy.

We hit the dirt pacing at a blister 28-30 mph and people quickly began to rally for position. Being a Badger trail veteran I quickly got into the pace line and over to the left, knowing that a large drop off lay ahead. Well, unfortunately someone went on a flier at the not so right time and at the last minute saw the drop off. This proved to be bad for me as he quickly tried to avert his death crashing into a bush and causing a pile up. I quickly got around him as I watched the lead group attack my misfortune. I laid down a hard effort trying to close the gap, I looked for someone to pull with me only to find myself in no mans land between the lead group and the chase group.

I chased solo for a solid 5 miles, not gaining or losing ground, until the chase group finally caught me. This seems to be a solid group and a little organization could lead to a successful chase down. I quickly organize the group and we start taking short hard pulls. As we start to close in I clip a rock and hear the air quickly leaving my tire. D**** there goes that chance.

I fixed my flat and decided to just hit it hard for a while. I get into a grove and slowly worked my way backup. Unfortunately, I was pinning it a little to hard to pay attention to the trail signs. I saw a sign that had a straight ahead arrow on it, what I didn’t see were the words turn around written on this sign.

I actually ended up with 76 miles istead of the scheduled 56 mile race. I enjoyed every minute of it however. I got to help out some of the stragglers at the back of the pack by getting one poor lady who had overdone things a bit to a coffee shop for some much needed food, and rode with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while.

Much love to Djonn for yet another great race, and to all the sponsors, including Twin Six, for the sick door prizes. I even won a set of Sun Ringle rims.

Congrats to the winners as well:
mens:
1st- Jesse Lalonde
2nd- Matt Gehling
3rd- Lylez!

womens:
1st- Meghan! Korol
2nd- Claire Cannon
3rd- Katy Steudel

Damn!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Inspiration Process

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Inspiration can come from all over. I get inspired for build from books, websites, music, photos, and art in general. Some times the best inspiration can come from process. Following the proper procedures for generating ideas is important, generic catchall phrase have been around for years about thinking outside the box or breaking the mold. We have all heard our boss say this.

Currently this is hugely important for many people. Budgets are pressed, resources are short and the pressure is on. So how do you step to this mounting pressure to succeed? Lots of coffee is definitely one answer, but process is another. It seems strange that something like process can be used in the same sentence as creativity but it is true. The scientific method has been around for decades and helps to show that having a process can help you find your solution, so how do we apply this sort of method to design?

There steps that can lead you to multiple ideas, lets lay them out -

1. Identify the problem - This is the biggest step you can take realizing something is wrong . Problems can come from a number of places and many times you have problems and don’t even know it. The best way to identify problems is to test often and in lots of ways. User experience testing is great for seeing how people actually use the product, marketing research to make sure you are hitting the intended audience, technical testing to make sure things function as expecting, the list goes on.
2. Research the problem - Why is the problem occurring?
3. See how others have solved the problem - it is important to look at as many examples as possible
4. See what others have done wrong
5. Write a brief - This should be a short statement outlining the goals, this will help guide the creative process and set the direction of all future decisions.
6. Mind mapping - Sometimes writing down everything that could possibly be associated with the item being studied can bring exciting new possibilities to the table. Get as many people as possible involved and bring a thesaurus, a good way to start is to just write down words and related words. This context will help you to think about the different directions possible.
7. Turn the idea upside down - If you were to do it completely wrong what would you do. Throw out the worst possible ideas you can come up with. Some times they turn into the best.
8. Mood Boarding - Pick a spot on the wall of the office and have people post pictures of things they like on it, or that solve the problem well. This can be very inspirational.
9. Sketch- Start putting together sketches of a proposed solution. Just put together as many as you can analyze them later
10. Pre-production - By this time you should have enough concepts to put together some concepts work with the client to iron out the ideas

So there is a brief outline, entire books are written about this topic so this is very brief. Hopefully you find it helpful!