Jeff Burmeister

My 2011 Resolutions

2011-01-02T10:03:00.001-06:00

I've never been real big on setting New Years resolutions to be honest. I've always more or less assumed that if there is somethign tha tyou want to do, you just do it, then and there. You don't need to wait until a specific date to get started.... But as I've gotten older, I've learned that you can't always just do it when you want to, there are other things in life now that are much more important then what is bothering you at that exact moment.

So, I too, just like you my dear sole reader, decided to write out a list of things that I resolve to do in the 2011 year.

Live Greener - Less plastics, more sustainable items
Eat lower on the food pyramid - More grains, less red meats
Blog my thoughts here more often - Journal thoughts etc
Get back to racing - also known as get my ass in shape
Replace the windows in our house - the big home project for the year
Develop my career - Spend a night a week getting up to date in my field

How Time has flown by

2010-07-12T11:21:00.002-05:00

So much has happened in the last couple of months that I can't even begin to figure out how to tell you all about it.

What has happened you ask? Well lets see, i got a new job, we sold our condo, we bought a new home, moved, Sheila got a new job, installed a new water heater in the new house, cut my own lawn for the first time, was a race official for over a week at the Nature Valley Grand Prix, and then I got my first bbq grill! Whew!

Note sure if I can write about each individual event, but I might just do it when I come up for some air after all of this change.

Elizabeth's Own Website

2010-04-08T16:27:00.002-05:00

Yeah, she already has her own internet presence...

Kids and technology, I tell ya...

http://elizabeth-burmeister.blogspot.com/

Long Lost Journal Entry for the Twin Cities Marathon

2010-02-10T15:51:00.001-06:00

I’m not sure why it was never posted in the past, but here it is now for your collective amusement.

Well, its over. What I’ve been calling my mid-life crisis has been completely processed and I’m ready to turn 40. I’m now on my way back to the somewhat normal life that I had prior to getting this “Grand Idea” from my wife.

Sure there are a lot of people out there that have “Run a Marathon” on their list of Things to Do Before I Die, and while I had this already crossed off my list when I was in my twenties, I figured it was time to try to do a marathon properly! As in, running it sober this time.

So as usual, I took my little goal a bit further than average. I decided that I’d also attempt to complete the marathon in the top 20 percentile of all runners. Which by my math would require me to finish the marathon in less than three hours and forty minutes.

Officially, I never completed the marathon. I lost my timing chip in the first two miles of the race. But I kept track of all of my mile marker splits and totals on my watch.

But unfortunately still came up a bit short on my goal. And almost immediately after I was done, Sheila asked me if I’m going to do another one and try to make my goal.

Honestly, I doubt that I will do another one right way. Perhaps I’ll do one when I turn 50 and then again at 60. Make it a decade thing. Since the first one was at age of 20, it has a nice symmetry about it. Sadly I don’t recall most of my thirties, so I could have done one, but I would doubt it. This isn’t a reflection on the race, or even this type of competition in general. I just had a desire to see how well I could do on my first proper go at a marathon, and now I know. So I don’t have much in the way of motivation to attempt another. I guess you could say I’ve got it out of my system, and I’m ready to continue on.

0:6:10 in Heat Zone 1

0:11:06 in Heart Zone 2

0:13:18 in Heart Zone 3

3:01:08 in Heart Zone 4

0:20:16 in Heart Zone 5

Splits

Mile 1 8:40

Mile 2 8:10

Mile 3 8:23

Mile 4 8:03

Mile 5 8:02

Mile 6 8:00

Mile 7 7:52

Mile 8 8:14

Mile 9 8:04

Mile 10 7:54

Mile 11 8:04

Mile 12 8:17

Mile 13 8:54 (bathroom stopped)

Mile 14 8:31

Mile 15 8:31

Mile 16 8:43

Mile 17 8:57

Mile 18 9:10

Mile 19 9:13

Mile 20 9:43 (past by 3:30 group)

Mile 21 9:28

Mile 22 10:23 (hit the wall at River Road Hills)

Mile 23 9:49 (Michael starts to run with me)

Mile 24 9:27 (Up Summit Ave)

Mile 25 10:21 (No idea where I am anymore)

Mile 26 12:10 (Up Ramsey Hill)

Mile 26.2 2:12 (Down Chapel Hill to)

Finish - 3:53:24.3

Our First Weeks Activities

2010-01-25T10:04:00.001-06:00

Sleep... Eat... Poop... Sleep... Eat... Poop... Burp... Look Around... Sleep... Poop... Meet more Relatives... Sleep... Eat... Poop.. Poop... Eat...

Repeat at least 5 more times a day

The Fed-Ex of Deliveries

2010-01-21T14:56:00.006-06:00

I'm going to attempt to put down the whole story of Elizabeth's birth for the record. I'm hopeful that I can recall with accuracy all of the details, but my mind was running on empty on the morning of January 18th, but I think I'll be very close.

Our story begins on Sunday the 17th. I made plans (my first mistake) to spend some time with a few of my cycling friends. On Sunday Nights our sponsor, The Birchwood Cafe, has a Burger and Beer special. So the Men's team likes to get together, have a burger and a beer or two and chat about cycling for a few hours. Around 7:15pm I get a call from Sheila saying casually "you know how you were going to hit Cub Food's for us after hanging out with the boys? Why don't you come straight home instead. But no need to rush home now. Everything is fine."

So we order another beer so we can say a toast to my little girl. I drink it down quickly and hit the road to see how my wife was getting along. I get home to her on the couch looking pretty relaxed but with a look of concern is running across her face. She has been getting a cramp like contraction every 90 minutes or so. So we try to make her comfortable and I help her into bed.

I roll into bed around midnight. Sheila is now somewhat comfortable and Stefanie is out with her friends watching a movie. So I crawl into bed and dose off assuming that I will be heading into the office in seven hours. 2:15 AM Sheila wakes me with a look of terror and pain across her face. She says that she has been dreaming about having contractions and that she has just had her bloody discharge, and then she informs me that its time to go to the hospital. Code Red is declared.

I call Stefanie to let her know we are on the way, she says she will meet us there. Sheila and I start gathering our things as quickly as a woman who is having contractions every 7-8 minutes for about 20 to 30 second long can. With the Van loaded we hit the road for the nearly 30 mile drive up to our hospital, Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. Before you go and ask yourself "Why the f#$@ would they drive all that distance for?" I'll tell you that this is the hospital attached to the woman's health clinic that Sheila works in. So she knows all of the doctors etc. hence it is our hospital of choice.

I'm in panic and concern mode at the same time. I need to get her there fast, but slowly enough to avoid the drunk drivers who are out after the Vikings win and don't have to work tomorrow because of MLK. We arrive at the hospital to find Stef and her two friends already there. They unlike me put the pedal down and got there quickly. The four of them chat for a few minutes while I unload the bags, and park the van. We enter the hospital just a few minutes prior to 3AM.

We get pointed directly to the Labor and Delivery unit, we called ahead and they are waiting for us. Surprisingly we are informed by Crystal our nurse that we are the only ones in the unit tonight. So she starts to check us in, taking blood pressures, temperatures, and hooking up the fetal heart monitor. Then its time for the physical exam, this doesn't go well, and a second nurse is called for. They work together and determine that Sheila is now at 6-7cm dilated and baby is at a -2. So its time to get us out of the examination room and down the hall to our birthing room. Doctor Ron (the on call Doctor is paged for us) and we make our way down to room #470, which will be our home for the length of our birthing.

We get ourselves settled into the room. Sheila's contractions are now hitting every 4 minutes or so, and she is dealing with them as best she can. She is a walk it out kind of girl, so a lot of pacing back and forth starts. I find the chair that pulls out into a bed and try to relax, assuming that we're in for a very long morning. It's now shortly after 4:15 AM and we make the decision that it is time for Sheila to get an epidural as the pain is becoming too much, and she can't get herself comfortable.

The doctor arrives and is a very pleasant fellow who has been with the client for nearly 40 years. Sheila and the Doctor talk shop while he puts in the epidural. This is completed around 4:45 AM and we're now visited by the on call doctor, Ron. Introductions are made, Sheila and him joke about being called in, and he says its not a big deal since he was on his way in for an Emergency downstairs in the OR. So he goes in and does his check of Sheila. "Opps sorry about that Sheila, I think I bumped you to 8cm dilated." The second nurse, Lisa now comes in and tells us that we should all try to rest a bit since it will be a long morning. Lights are turned off, beds are made and Sheila is feeling comfortable for the first time in a ling while.

At 5:10AM Nurse Lisa walks back into the room with a walk that is very focused. "We've lost baby's heart beat on the monitor." She grabs the monitor and searches for baby, she searches some more, and more, and more. No luck. You can see Sheila start to get concerned. I'm starting to get concerned. The nurse is now getting concerned. She pages the other nurse to come and help her and... Beep, beep, beep, "There that stinker is!" Baby has moved down on us. So the nurse says that she is going to put in a intro-vaginal heart monitor. Sheila turns to me and says "I feel like pushing, its like I need to use the restroom or something."

Nurse Lisa, "Ahh lets page the Doctor Now! Sheila, we can see your babies head." 5:45AM

Organized panic now hits our room. The equipment carts are all wheeled in, lights are set up, bedding and sheets are changed and Sheila is put up into the stirrups. Doctor shows up and is in full dress already. "Hey Sheila, how are things going for you I hope that your.... Okay so I see you're +2 already, and ... Well lets have a baby!"

Doctors assumes his Johnny Bench position at the end of the bed, the two nurses are now magically in full dress and are on both sides of Sheila. Stef is on the other side of Sheila holding her hand and acting as the birth partner. I'm a feet away as the Doctor announces, "Jeff, your little girl has a lot of hair, would you like to see?" I'm in a state of shock and move around behind the doctor to take my new position as birthing umpire and see that my daughter already has a big patch of dark brown hair. I take this seemingly safe position for the rest of the delivered.

The Nurses, Doctor and Stefanie are now all instructing Sheila that it is time to push (5:55AM)

Sheila takes her first shoot at pushing. She breaths in deep, and then does a classic yoga move as she blows out as she is pushing. The nurses are now all trying to correct her. She is about to take a second push during next contraction when the Doctor stops everyone and says, "Sheial. Breath in. Hold the breath. Bare down. Push!"

Sheila does. The baby's head crowns on this good push. The second push and baby's head comes out and she turns to the right a bit. The doctors says okay, "Okay a big push here." As Sheila is getting ready to push, Baby decides she isn't going to wait for anyone else and pulls her arm through and reaches out just as Sheila starts to push. This sudden passing of the shoulders makes baby come the rest of the way in the last push.

Our Book will be titled. "Boom! Have your baby in just four pushes!" It will be the latest crazy in all of those self-help birthing books.

Elizabeth Quinn Burmeister is born at 5:58AM on January 18th 2010 to very proud parents and a very excited big sister.

2010 Racing Season

2010-01-11T09:59:00.001-06:00

During my weekly discussions with my coach we’ve been trying to focus in on what the realities of the coming season will be for me and my potential training schedule.

There are two real issues to address for the 2010 season. The first is the fact that during the 2009 season I lacked any type of focus in my training at all. I was racing fast and short track events and then I was running ultra-marathons, marathons, and half-marathons on the weekends. It’s pretty hard to develop competitiveness when you’re attempting to do two extremely different challenges at the same time. In fact I don’t think I could have picked two things that are further from the same focus than these two things. Oh well, I had fun and that is all that matters… Right?

The second challenge for 2010 is that my availability is going to be pretty limited. I’ll be a new father, we’ll be purchasing (and trying to sell) a home, I’ll be looking for a new job, Sheila is starting Graduate school, she’d like to continue with her part time weekend job and I’ll be officiating at Cycling events. Yeah, I’d say that we have a bit going on.

So we are faced with the fact that I won’t have nearly the time to train for this upcoming season that I’d need to be competitive. So we’re thinking one of the following paths for the 2010 season;

-Don’t race at all in 2010. I could spend what time I can find trying to keep in general shape and keep moving towards my goal of Master’s World Track Cycling Championships in 2015

- Only focus on one highly specific area of training for the whole season. Ideally one event such as the 4km Individual Pursuit or the Kilo event so that I don’t spend my time trying to develop long endurance which takes a lot of time and commitment.

- Turn off cycling completely and just take part in a few running events and maybe throw in another Triathlon or two to change it up a bit.

In the coming weeks I’ll need to sit down with my family and try to make a decision that will be the best for all of us. We’ll keep you all informed as to what will happen.

Until then, I have a very pregnant wife at home who is getting ready to pop, and I will get to be a new father! That by itself is way more important to me than any type of racing goal. But it’s nice to keep racing in the back of my mind.

A New Beginning

2010-01-02T15:19:00.001-06:00

For you, my sole dear reader,

Welcome to the new, to the beginning, of... well the Birth for better lack of terms of a new web journal for myself.

After countless years, the old website just didn't reflect the emotion of where I am at in life anymore. So, we have pushed the shinning read button on that website together. It is gone, but the content of the page has been saved (editor's note: "Not sure why it was saved. It wasn't well written or meaningful to anyone outside of the voice's in this guys head anyhow.")

But hope springs eternal... or something like that for some new content, some more regular postings, and for a return to the days of old when photography played a dominate role in my life.

So lets hear it for the New Year, and for New Beginning......

Jeff Burmeister

New Year's Resolutions

2009-12-30T11:04:00.000-06:00

Why do we have New Year’s Resolutions? Shouldn’t we make changes for the good everyday of the week? Why wait until New Years to make these resolutions? My guess is that we are all intrinsically procrastinators. Well, I am at least…

So I’m going to write down some resolutions for this year. But with all of the change that is about to happen in our world, I think I should keep my resolutions simple while focusing on our family. So with that,

Reduce our environmental impact and to live a greener life.
Whenever possible to buy local products
Expand my commuting via bicycle to work, the shops, and to the gym. More winter commuting.
Learn to be much more patient, and reduce my sense of self-worth

2009-09-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

My long time friend Mickey Mikeworth’s husband Mark Yount is a bit of a nut, sort of like me. He is an ultra marathoner, and last year he accomplished a 72 mile non-stop run from Minneapolis to Gustavus Adolphus College for his oldest daughter’s graduation. During that run he came up with the idea of running from Thunder Bay Ontario to Duluth Minnesota. This short little 200 mile jaunt down the north shore would be spread over 4 days and that would make it a nice round two marathon a day event.

Mickey then asked in passing a few months back “you interested in coming along?” And I being the person that I am said, “Sure, sounds like a good time.”

Next thing you know I’m on my way north to Thunder Bay on a Tuesday morning to meet up with those two to act as support / pacer / mental fatigue limiter for Mark during his run.

The drive to Thunder Bay is roughly 350 miles from our house. I’m quickly detained at the border for 40 minutes while they run a criminal background check on me. Makes sense, I'm a bit of a nut case for just going along with this idea and they think so too. I finally get over the border and arrive at Hotel at 8:40 PM to find out that we're now officially in the EST time zone. 8pm because 9pm and it is suddenly bed time.

5:30AM rise for day one, a 52 miles day that officially gets started at 6:32 AM CST Mark starts his run while I drive back to the Canadian border and drop my car off there. Mickey follows me in the other support car and then drives me backwards over the course so I can memorize it for Mark and so that I can run this section with him. Mark has already knocked out about 10km of the course by the time I get back to him. He takes a little break, I warm up a bit and we are off. We knock out about 28 miles at about 11 minute per mile pace down to the Canadian border.

I’m really hurting from my longest run... well ever. And Mark is looking good. So I do everything I can to act like nothing is hurting and that I'm fresh too. But I’m really dying on the inside. I see something I can sit on, a swing set and decide this is a fun way to rest and make it look like it’s all in fun. But the border also means that I now have to jump back into my car and drive back to the US, and then continue down to the hotel in Grand Portage. Park, change my clothing, unpack my bike, and ride backwards over the course and find Mark, turn around, and then ride the bike with him back for the rest of the day.

I climb up Mount Josephine on my bike and decent down the other side and meet up with Mark as he is starting to plug up the climb, which just happens to be the largest Mountain in the Sawtooth Range. The end goal for today is to make it to Mile marker 140, this would give us a solid 60 Miles completed and would leave us with a 50, 45, 45 mile days left. Mark makes it to the end in grand style and fairly comfortably. We actually finish really early, 4:15 CST, for what we accomplished in the first day.

A large Steak Dinner for the first course and a large pizza with jalapenos for the second is my dinner for that night at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino.

Day two starts with a little bit less enthusiasm. Start Mile Marker 140. 7:32 AM CST

We decided that today I'd start on the bike and then finish on the run so that Mark would have a bit more mental stability. A running partner is a lot easier to work with then a biking partner we found early on day one. So we start off and head South with the midday goal of Grand Marais for our lunch break. We get Mark down to GM and he has to take a conference call for work, yeah I know! Then we are off on the Run. Weather is still most likely good, but a wind is starting to blow from the South and my sailing hat goes on and I predict rain in 4 hours. It hit us in a little over 3 hours. So we are stuck in a cold rain and really hurting over the last couple of miles while we close in on Mile Marker 90 and the Lutsen Lodge.

We complete the run at 8:05 PM CST and then I have to get a ride back up to Grand Marais to get me car and drive back down. So I decide to stop at Sven and Ole’s for a second time that day for yet another Pizza! Finally into bed shortly before Midnight after trying to recover, eat, and speak with my pregnant wife that I’m starting to really miss.

The start for day three got off pretty late as we are all wiped out, and the weather doesn’t look good. But thankfully we spotted a gourmet coffee shop a few miles from the hotel. Mark and I drive up to the shop and load up on the first decent coffee we’ve had in a while.

8:35 AM CST and we are off in the rain and temperatures in the high 40’s. We are in for a rough morning as we are about to go through a huge construction job on highway 41. There is almost 10 miles of crews crushing rock, blast zones as they try to blast more room for the road, and numerous bridges that are closed. So here we are, running in the cold rain on mud and gravel while trying to get through a single lane roads.

Not a great start to our day as I step on a huge rock and turn my right knee. I try to shake it off and tell Mark it is nothing, but I know that I’m done now. I can only hope that Mark’s new relief crew shows up early so that I can get off my feet quickly. We get down to Terrance River Park and mile marker 77 before Mickey, the support car, and the new running support team is ready to go.

I happily help Mark into a new running cape for the second half of his morning run and I quickly get out of my running shoes and into my compression tights and a dry pair of shoes. I end my adventure with Mark and Mickey at 11:45am CST at mile Marker 77 Terrance River Park. Roughly 123 miles from where we started all of this!

My Food recap
3 large pizzas
1 Steak and Baked potato Dinner
1 2/3 lbs Anchor Burger w/ fries and Large Summit Beer
14 packets of Hammer Gel
3 cans of Grape Juice
3 bags of Jelly Belly Beans
4 bags of Sour cream and Onion Potato Chips
6 Mike’s Hard Lemonades
3 packages of Shot Blocks
10 liters of drinking water
22 Ibuprofens
8 salt tablets
Zero Gatorade

2009-08-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Way back in December of last year, I sat down and started writing up a training schedule that would target a single race event for this cycling season. This key event was last weekend and it was to be “the big race” for me this year, the one event that all of my training was building up too.

The event that I picked as my focus was the Minnesota State Track Omnium Championships. Long title, but it breaks down to this, a championship based on five different types of track racing disciplines. The fun bit about this race is that its broken into groups based on age and not experience like a regular season race. So I was going to race with the Category 1&2 Pro guys that are my in age group. Oh, did I forget to mention that last year’s U.S. National Omnium Champion happens to be in the same age group and me? Oh also that I was the only guy that wasn’t a 1/2 Pro in the group?

The five races that make up the Omnium Championships are; The Flying 200meter Time Trial, the 20 Lap Scratch Race, the 3000meter Individual Pursuit Time Trial, the 50 Lap Points Race, and the Kilometer Individual Time Trial. Points are giving based on how you finish in each race. 1st place gets 5 points, 2nd gets 3 points, 3rd gets 2 points, and 4th gets a single point. The person with the most points after all of the racing is done is the big weinner.

I tried to set some realistic goals for myself within this event. Nothing that was impossible to reach, but also nothing that would be easy. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to race at the level that I had hoping for. I had developed a stomach virus the week leading up to the race (editor – is this a pre-emptive performance excuse?) and I spent a good portion of the race wanting and nearly throwing up. Not something that helps bring out the best in you. But I set a goal and I was committed to following through, so I decided that I might as well race and just trying to enjoy it.

On the day of the race we had good weather but we also had an nasty evil northwesterly wind that was blowing 10 to 20mph, with some gusts going up to 25mph. This would make for some less then stellar times in the Time Trials events for all of us.

The Flying 200meter Time Trial is an exciting but brief race. You’re given 2 and a half laps to get your bike up to speed. Then when you hit the 200meter line they start the clock. Three quarters of a lap later, you’re done. My goal was a 12.9 but the heavy wind going down the straight slowed me and I came in with a 13.6sec an average pace of 33.4 mph. Needless to say I was way down the finishing order with that effort.

The scratch race is straight forward, 20 laps, first over the line wins race. At the start a guy went directly off the front of the group and I was in no physical shape to be the one that would chase him down, so I just let him go. Everyone around me watched as I let him go, and we all seemed to agree to let them go with the heavy winds. As we started to work together to monitor his advantage, he realized that his break was a silly move to do solo. So he came back to the group. Laps went by with only a little dicing back and forth in our group. Then with three laps to go things began to ramp and the sprint was on. I was left behind but fought through it and ended up in fourth. Scoring a single Omnium point and achieving my goal for this event.

The 3000meter Pursuit Time Trial starts with two people set up on opposite sides of the track. The race is against the clock, but you also get to try and catch the other guy on the opposite side of the track. I got an okay standing start, and got up to speed pretty quickly. I felt smooth and fast for the majority of the race, but in the final couple of laps I tailed off and my pedaling started to get choppy. I was able finish just in front of my opposite racing partner and got a 4:14.0 which is an average of 27mph from a dead start. This was good enough for another 4th and another point.

The next race was the Points Race. Points Races are usually very cool events and I enjoy them. They have sprints for points every ten laps and the points are given out in the same way as the overall Omnium points. The first 10 laps went by well for me. I was in there for the sprint and come over the top of another racer for 4th again. Then I had a bit of a moment where I turned towards the infield so that I could throw-up. After that I was in trouble. The sprint for Lap 20 split me off from the main field and I struggled my way back to the group. Lap 30 sprint split me off again, and this time it took me 5 laps of tempo riding to get back to the main group. By the Lap 40 Sprint I was cooked and I wasn’t going to catch up again after that. I struggled on and ended up a lap down from the main field.

The last event was the Kilo. Some simply call it “The Killer,” basically you throw everything you have into the start and then try to hold on for as long as you can. It’s only four laps long, but it really hurts when you get to lap 4. My kilo started okay, not the best start and I only got the bike up to 34 mph before I started to slow. I got down into the best aero position I could and I tried to hold on to my speed. On Lap 4, going into that nasty wind and my legs screaming from lactate acid, I just about killed myself, but I struggled through. I finished with a 1:20 that is 28.4 mph average pace. Again, I got a fourth place finish.

In the end, the points that I scored were enough to get me a fifth place overall for the event, which was my original event goal for the event. So I was very happy with that.

Afterwards, I felt like crap both physically and emotionally. But luckily my wife Sheila stopped by the track and took care of me during the second half of the race. So it was great to have her there to get me through the end and then to get us both Chipotle Burritos and chips!

My next goal? I’m not sure yet, but I’m thinking U.S. National Championships in 2014

2009-06-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

For those of you that aren’t in the “Mother Burmeister phone network” or you aren’t on something like Facebook, Twitter, or some other form of rapid fire internet communication, I have a bit of an announcement for you. Back at the beginning of June, Sheila and I announced to our families that we’re pregnant. Yes that is right, the adolescent adult that is me (editor insert – We have a book worth of examples here.) is going to be given the biggest challenge of his life, too not mess up someone else’s.

The due date is January 23rd, and we are both extremely happy and excited for the opportunity to have a child together. Of course there will be a number of changes that will happen in our home. But all of those changes are on the back burner right now while we just get through the first months of the pregnancy.

I can only hope that I can be as successful, supportive, and caring as my father was for me. I have some big shoes to fill when comparing the job that he did. But I have some good guide lines from him to help get me there. Thanks Dad, you’re the best, and you did one hell of a job not messing me up.

2009-06-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Half Marathon, Or my Second Half Marathon Ever, and Second during the Month of May

The need to do another half marathon became apparent when I was not able to get the folks over at the Twin Cities Marathon registration team to allow me to have a Corral #1 spot based on a time I got during the Minnetonka Half under someone else’s name…. Sure I get it you can’t verify my result, so I’m cool with that. I’ll figure something out before October. What? I only have four weeks from now to submit a qualifying time? Okay, no big deal, I’ll sort it out. That gives me how long… Ahhh, well then it looks like I can do either the Minneapolis event or… the Minneapolis event. So, I’d better see if I can still get in.

On the Thursday morning prior to the race, I entered as one of the last people before it sold out. Then that afternoon I decide I should get my training in for the event. “Lets do a 5K run during the lunch break, that should be enough right?!” I said to myself. But the weather Thursday night was beautiful, and the girls went to a movie together. So let’s go for a hill climb bike ride in St Paul. Good idea…

Friday I take off so that I can rest up a bit because on Saturday morning I’m leading the Birchwood Cycling Team’s Track Event at the National Sports Center up in Blaine. I spent the whole morning teaching and riding the Velodrome with the guys. I did my best to not hammer on myself too much. But I let it fly a few times and put some hurt on myself before we left.

Sunday morning, 5:55 AM the alarm clock goes off. I roll over and hit the snooze bar. The race starts at 7:00 AM. Plenty of time right? 6:15 AM and I starting to roll out of bed, start the espresso maker, and try to find my sox, shoes, shorts, t-shirt, sweats, and iPod. In that order. Opps need that heart rate monitor. Go back for that. Jump in the car at 6:40 and start heading downtown. I decided to park by the Sushi restaurant “Origami” which is a full mile from the start/finish area. I get in a nice long walk/jog to the staging area, and the announcer has already given the 3 minutes to go announcement while I’m still walking.

I’m starting to get nervous now. I’m running solo at this one. I won’t have Michael Schmaltz to watch my pace for me. You see, I simply lack the running experience to hold a steady pace. And this is what truly scares me. Because I tend to go out fast and I always end up pay for it in the end. So I need a plan, and quick. I need to find someone here that looks like they’ll be holding a pace that’ll work for me and my goal time so I can get my corral 1 qualifier… And what the hell is that up there?

Huge flags along the side of the staging area are showing various race paces based on minutes per mile. And people are hanging out around them for the start. These are the paces they think they’ll be running. Score!!! I’m saved! I’m starting to smile and look around to try and take in the experience of the start when someone starts to sing the national anthem. Then suddenly the announcer say, “Racers… GO!”

I’m still taking off my sweatshirt and looking for the guys I saw holding up a card that had “8:00 Minute Mile” before I loose him in the mass of people. The crowd of people are now walking forward towards the start line, I finally get there, put my foot down twice on the electronic chip reading start pad and I’ve officially started my second half marathon this month.

The Minneapolis course starts in front of the Mill City Museum, then goes down to the river front, turns back towards NE Minneapolis, loops over the Broadway bridge, down the north side of the river, back over the lower falls bridge towards the start area, then turns left and goes down the south side of river road down to 32nd street, turns around back onto itself and runs back north to the Guthrie theater. It’s a great course even if it had an out and back built into it.

I took the first mile of the race as a nice slow warm up as we ran through the Mill City museums and around the Guthrie. My newly adopted pace group hit the first mile marker and I look at my watch. 8:11 mile, ouch, I need to get going or I would never make my goal. So I tried to move through the countless bodies in this group and started looking up the road for someone with a sign that I can us for pacing. I didn’t see one. So I’m going to need to try and focus on a steady cadence by myself now. Exactly what I didn’t want to do! When I got down to the Broadway Bridge I’m starting to settle into a good rhythm. I check my watch and I’ve been running 7:21 miles for the last two miles!!! Okay I’m back on target and I’m putting in some cushion for my goal. The good news, I’m feeling really good. But then a strange thing happened, I stopped thinking and feeling. I’m just simply put one foot in front of the other and running without thought or concern.

I had finally found “the thing” that I find when I’m on my bike. My body takes over my brain and I just go. 7:27, 7:23, 7:29, 7:39 minute miles go by. Nothing seems to bother me… until. We’ve crossed back over to the South side of the river and we’re hitting steep hills. That rhythm is gone now, I’m now thinking about running and my body worried about feeling again. The next two miles are nothing but “Ouch was that my calf muscle?” “I think I just turn my ankle in that pot hole?” “This is starting to hurt!” I just turned out a 7:59 mile.

I’m starting to slip into a mentally dangerous place now and I know it. It’s time to quickly find a way too stop thinking. I’m finally arriving at the turn around at mile 9 now. The last few miles have not been fun. There are lots and lots of spectators here, and I’m starting to run back against the people I was running with earlier. Find Distractions! Time to look for people you know. Play number games in my head. I’ll count people wearing “Livestrong” t-shirts. There are two in black one in yellow. I see Tim Redpath from the office. I see a woman who definitely needs a new mirror at home. I see someone from the YWCA that’s goes Sheila’s spin class. I jack up the volume on my iPod and select a drum and bass Jungle remix. I’m starting to let go again. Miles 10, 11, and 12 go by and I don’t remember them just like miles 4-8.

Then there it is… the thing I told myself I would have to save up time to compensate for. The two tiered hill that we ran down from the Guthrie and that makes up the final mile of the Half Marathon. What sadistic bastard puts the steepest hill of the race in the last mile?! Seriously!?! Who does that? Bastard!

I look at my watch. I read 1 hour 32 minutes and a few seconds. Crap, I need a sub 7:30 mile on a huge hill in order to reach my goal. I start to kick as hard as I can. “This hill isn’t going to stop me from reaching my goal,” I tell myself. I check the watch again, 3 minutes to go, I can sprint when I ride bike for that period of time, I can sprint now damn it! I reach what looks like the peak of the hill and there’s still the false flat finishing stretch, and less then 30 seconds to get there. I’m in what feels like a full out sprint. I hear my name called out over the PA system and a few people shout my name as I kick for the line. I check my watch and hit the line. I think I made it by 5 seconds by my watch!!! But the official time is the only one that matters! The timing computer makes a little chirp noise and confirms that I’ve completed the half marathon at a new personal best of 1:39:52 a full eights seconds faster then my goal time. I have achieved a Corral 1 position for my first Marathon is now secured! I get to run with the Elites!

All in all I’m calling this race a great success. Surprisingly, I felt pretty good after the race. I’m walking fairly easy (thank god because I have a long walk back to the car) and I feel like I have enough energy left in me that I could have kept going if it was needed. But most important to me is the fact that I ran with a steady pace for long parts of the race. I was able to take my mind out of the equation and I just ran. It was a good feeling and I’m even more excited for the Twin Cities Marathon now.

bib number: 3770
overall place: 140 out of 2257
division place: 19 out of 155
gender place: 109 out of 827
time: 1:39:52
pace: 7:38
15k split: 1:10:23

2009-05-28T16:34:00.000-05:00

“It’s a long season…” is the phrase that I’m saying over and over again to myself this week. You see last week I was at the National Sports Center Velodrome racing in my first track race since I was in my twenties. Yes, it’s been a long time thank you for reminding me. And well yes I guess I was a bit nervous my first time back. Yes…. I forgot a number of things that I knew in the past. Well, sure, I was racing against guys 15 years younger then me. So why wasn’t I happy with just being there and having a good time doing something that I love?

You see, the mantra that is playing on repetitive loop in my head is not because my results were out of line with where I thought my training would leave me. It’s just that I got played. I was made to feel like a rookie all over again. I was in a place where I was the outsider, an unknown. I had to earn my spurs with these people all over again. So because I didn’t have teammates out there, I was putting my nose out in the front of the pack way too much. I was a classic rookie all over again. And I simply hate feeling that way.

I didn’t finish in the top 5 in any of the races that night, but I didn’t finish in anything less then eighth either. This is a result that I should be very happy with. You see I was consistent, I held in there for the fast short races, and I was there at the end for the long endurance race. I should be happy with my fitness and my ability to not get bullied. I should be happy… but I’m not.

As you my sole reader most likely know, I’m a competitive person when it comes to all things that I put my time and energy into. I want to do well at everything I do. And damn it, I won’t mind it if I won from time to time either.

But there is a real down side to all of this that doesn’t have to do with my little fragile ego.

The pace that my new collegiate aged track friends set was pretty high, and I wasn’t willing to back down from it either, but at the age of 40 (editor -that is actually what it says on his racing license) I’m in no position to sit at 210+ heart rate for long periods of time. So when the 40 lap scratch race got started I was determined to try and break some of the pure sprint type guys and then try to recover for the finish and possibly have a shot at it. So I pushed the pace early and dropped a few guys. But this came at a price. I got the worst exertion headache of my life around lap 20. The type where you know that there’s a blood vessel or two that popped from the pure force of the blood ripping around in your body.

(Editor – Please insert your own, you drink too much, smoked too much, and eat crap food for a really long time joke here.)

So now a week later, I’m still suffering from the headaches and I’m being forced by doctor’s orders to take it easy on the intensity levels. Like the Crockpot cooker sitting in my kitchen, I’ll be doing my training long and slow for the next two weeks. Which just sucks...

Fortunately for me, “It’s a long season…” and I’ll be back and ready to play with my new friends at the Track in a few weeks.

2009-05-07T10:38:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year I made a glorious stupid and potentially hilarious decision to run the Twin Cities Marathon the weekend prior to my 40th birthday! Yes that is right I’ve decided to go ahead and embrace my midlife crisis this year! I’m just hoping that I can get it all worked out of my system all in one day.

But of course with me being the type of person that I am, I’m won’t be running this as an “Oh lookie here everyone, I finished” type of run. No no no no, you see I have this friend named Anthony that has run several marathons in the past. And we have a healthy amount of competitive nature between us. So naturally when he hear I was thinking about running the marathon, we had a bit of a “discussion” (editor - over too many cocktails of course!) and ended up going double or nothing on a previous bet that I had won with him. So not only am I going to try to finish a full blown proper marathon (editor – while sober this time) but I’m going to be racing against a person who has several years of experience in running marathons. Oh and the best part, my goal time will put me in under the three hour and forty five minute area, which is starting to close in on a Boston Marathon qualifying time for my new age group… For my first MARATHON!! What have I done!?!?!

So to get the ball rolling towards this goal, I decided to race a couple of local events. Three weeks ago I entered the Minneapolis Recycling 5K which is run around Lake Harriet. My hope was to push my limits so I could put my results into one of those cool online run pacing calculators that they have for assisting people in their marathon strategies. The 5K was measure out exactly and USA Track certified. So I knew it would be accurate. But the weather was nasty wet, cold and very windy. So my finishing time was a bit off of my target time for this 5k. But considering that I don’t train for running and it was in nasty weather, I’m pretty happy. In fact I was able to set a new personal record (editor - Not hard to do considering it was his third 5k event ever!) of 22 minutes and 30 seconds. Which is two minutes and fifteen seconds faster then my finishing time in this event last year.

I then hooked up with a co-work named Michael who is one heck of a good runner for some training runs around our neighborhood. Our first race together was on an early Saturday morning following the 5k. We were off to do three hours of tempo work together. This turned out to be a pretty good time, and my body handled the pounding pretty well. We spent a lot of time talking about training and various events coming up. So after the eighteen miles with Michael, I figured it might be time to take it to the next level and see what my body could really take. But a half Marathon the next week?! Yeap, that is exactly what I did next.

The Wellsfargo Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon was race from Wayzata around the west side of Lake Minnetonka down to Excelsior. The 13.2 mile course wound up and down the hills around the lake and through some of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Minnesota. Luck was on our side that morning, as the weather turned out to be beautiful for the event with 50 degree weather, only a little wind and mostly sunny conditions. I doubly lucky to get a last second entry into the sold out race from one of Michael’s friends that wasn’t able to attend. So for that day I was to be known as Jamie, who was the original registration holder.

The course turned out to be much more hilly then I originally expected, and I was hurting right away in the race. Michael was feeling strong but kept to his promise to run with me. After miles and miles of watching Michael hit the hills hard and pull away from me only to slow down at the top and wait I started to tell him to go on without me as I was having some troubles holding my heart rate to a steady level with the hills. But again he kept to his promise and kept running with me and encouraging me and setting a good tempo as we went along. Then between mile markers 9 and 10 on a very steep hill, I waved him on and this time he went. The last 3 plus miles were up to me to hold my pace and keep to my goal. I started to play math games in my head to keep my brain focused off the pain I was putting myself through.

When I finally hit the 12 mile marker, I was a full two minutes ahead of my goal time, and I was feeling strong enough to try and kick with two other guys who looked like they would have strong finishes. We took our pace up too and probably beyond what I could hold. With about 100 meters to the finish I cracked under the pace they were setting and they pulled away from me. But the damage was done as we past about thirty people in that last mile. My finishing time was a very respectable 1:42:02. a full three minutes faster then my goal time. That is an average pace of 7:51 / mile. I finished 191st out of 1750 people, and I was 50th out of 290 in my age group. Not too bad for a first half marathon I think.

2009-04-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve last blogged. So I’m going to try to bring you, my sole reader, up to speed on what is happening in my little corner of the World. I’ve been doing a lot of social media type of interfacing lately. Think of it as a quick and fast version of LinkedIn or FaceBook. But it is called Twitter, and its sole ideology is to try to allow people to convey information quickly and in rapid secession. So to see what is currently going on with me, I’ve added the tweeter latest update on the top of this webpage, or you can click on http://www.twitter.com/jeff_burmeister to see my Twitter page and quick note history.

Sheila and I’ve took a week long trip to my Parent’s cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. It was a brilliant trip. We spent a lot of time just being… No TV, No Phones, No outside influences. It was just us being ourselves and spending time forgetting about the real world. I think we’ll have to do this at least once a year. But the return to the real world took a while for me to get back into my regular routine. Oh well, isn’t that what vacations are for?

Spring has officially sprung here in Minneapolis. So that means that the Bike Racing season officially started yesterday with the first Criterium race of the year. While the spring races come fast and furiously, I’ve never been a very good Spring Chicken. So I won’t be contesting any of the Spring Season races. Besides, all of my primary goal races are in late Summer and early Fall, so I’m holding off my ramp up to racing until next month.

Under the new toys category, I am proud to say that yet another bike has found its way into our corral of cycling. The Van Dessel Drag-Strip-Courage Track bike is finally at home and is patently waiting for the Blaine Velodrome to be opened up for training. Unfortunately this bike will be stored full time at the Velodrome so it’s time in our house will be fairly limited. Also, last week I stopped by my parent’s house and picked up my old Bianchi Grizzly Mountain Bike. It was to be used by my father, but has fallen into a bit of disrepair. So I took it on a trip to the bike shop so that I could tune the suspension and slap some new pedals on. But Sheila got a chance to ride it and has decided that this bike will now by hers. Sorry Dad, I’ll see if I can get you another bike in the near future. Oh, and for those playing the home game of “The Burmeister Bike Corral” we now have 7 bikes in our little Condo.

2009-03-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

This week’s word is “Nervousness,” –adjective
1. highly excitable; unnaturally or acutely uneasy or apprehensive: to become nervous under stress.
2. characterized by or attended with acute uneasiness or apprehension: a nervous moment for us all.

Yes that is correct this week’s word of the week is a direct reflection of my current mental state. We are going through yet another round of staff reductions here at my client site, but this time around there has been little to no information regarding the details of who these changes will likely effect. So for the first time in all of the layoff cycles I’ve been through, I’m actually very nervous about my continued employment.

We all know that the economy is the main factor in this round of layoffs. In fact, we have more work then workers right now. But they’ll still be moving forward with the staff reduction nonetheless. So I find myself in the most unusual situation of having to wait anxiously for the either good or bad news.

I’ve been have mental images of sitting in a hospital room waiting for the doctors to come out and let us know if a good friend or family member will be alright after some terrible tragedy. But of course that is way too extreme in comparison to the real situation. The real situation is just this; I was brought to my client’s site on a 6 month independent contract to help them sort out their support model. I was asked to stay on for another 6 months after the first contract ended. Then they made an offer to hire me as an employee, which I took. That has accounted for more then three years of my recent life. So I shouldn’t be upset about getting to finally move on.

“Change is a good thing” someone once said… I’m not sure who that was, but I’d like to find that person and talk to them about the difference between planned change and unknown change.

Until we find out, Nervousness is the word of the week.

2009-02-11T16:24:00.000-06:00

The start of the training season for cycling is, well, has been "on" for sometime now. Sure I've been getting my training hours in over the last two months, but I really haven't had a chance to sit down and write out what my focus would be in 2009. When you have an idea on what your primary events will be, you can then put it all on paper and say "hey, this is the event that I want to focus my efforts on" and you then build your training schedule in reverse from that date. Fortunately for me, the Minnesota racing calendar was published not to long ago and I've been able to find my window that'll be my theoretical training peak for this season.

While developing a training program that points to a certain timeframe can help you maximize your training, it can also be a double edged weapon. It takes a lot of dedication to stick to the schedule and its can be very difficult to not get caught up in the moment at a training race and then go run after other events that aren't in your plan or aren't important to you in the big picture. But in any case I have my peak selected and I'm now focusing my workout towards those primary events.

But all of this time spent training has caused my mind to wonder and I'm starting to face up to the reality of my upcoming race season. I've moved up in racing category, so the competition will be a lot tougher. I'll be racing against kids half my age in an effort to support Chris Schultz who'll be our Team's Criterium leader, and I'll likely not be able to repeat in may of the great results that I had last season. But there is some good news in all of this. You see I already know that I'll be a much better racer this coming season in comparison to last season. I'm still at least fourteen weeks away from my first race of the year, and I'm seeing training number that show a better fitness level then what I was at last year. So if I can keep with my training plan, I should be very happy come my first races.

After my primary races are completed, I'll be doing a 180 degree turn around, and taking 5 weeks to transition into a Runner. Yes that is right, a Runner. I'll be running in the Twin Cities Marathon for my 40th Birthday. I've already have a bet against my friend Anthony that I'll destroy his Marathon time, and I'll be also running with a co-worker who is looking to complete the race in roughly the same time as me, which is a 3:45:00!!!

Then I'm planning on taking a couple weeks off from training in general, perhaps working on my beer drinking skills for a bit and then prepping my Cyclocross bike for the fall 'cross season. Not a lot of races, but enough to get out with the boys and take part in some cross madness.

I'll post up a full race calendar in a few days.

2009-02-02T12:56:00.000-06:00

Over on the social network website Facebook.com there is a chain mesage that is going around that asks you to tell 25 things about yourself that others likely don't know and then send it to 25 of your friends.

I've been hit a number of times already, but I'm finally getting around to typing up this list. Scary as it might be, I think I even learnt a bit about myself while I was writting this up.

1. As a kid I wanted to be an Astronaut
2. I like being around people, but I don't like being in crowds
3. I've only been scared once in a rally car
4. My retirement goal is to go back to college and get a degree in something worthless
5. If I wasn't in my current profession, I'd like to be an architect
6. I got freaked out while swimming with sharks
7. Doctors, like 'em as people, but I hate being their patients
8. I can't touch my own eyeball. Nothing but glasses for me
9. I've traveled to every state in the US less, Hawaii, Alaska, Alabama and Mississippi
10. I wanted to go to college for Photo Journalism but switched to Physics and Math. I haven't picked up a camera since.
11. I hate Needles. Period
12. My first job was as a dish washer
13. I have climbed the world's highest active volcano
14. I was a Cheerleader in College
15. I hate being late for anything
16. Cooking relaxes me
17. I've had part time jobs in 4 bike shops, 3 home stores, 2 restaurants, 3 clothing stores, and 2 TV Networks
18. Has flown more then a half million air miles. Thanks TWA….
19. I have had four times as many bikes then cars
20. I have scuba dived down to 135 feet
21. I still love watching cartoons
22. I'll argue anything topic but politics
23. I'm absolutely terrible at remembering people's names
24. I consider myself a conservative duelist anti-establishment neo-classically urban punk naturalist renaissance man
25. If I had the time and the money, I'd make for one hell of an alcoholic

2009-01-27T09:55:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure how much longer I can take this "normal" Minnesota winter. You see, over the last five years we've had it pretty easy in Minnesota with the conditions of our winters. But now the weather is starting to swing back around to the cold stuff, it is getting pretty hard to deal with. Well, at least I'm starting to have a hard time with it.

The nice part about living in Minnesota during the winter is some of the outdoor sport activates. Cross Country Skiing, Snowmobiling, Sledding, Snowboarding, Ice Skating, big bonfires, etc. But this year with the average temperatures down in the minus range, no one is getting outside and enjoying it. Basically, Winter sucks this year.

Personally, I've only had one opportunity to go and try to enjoy this winter. I took a bike ride on New Years Day with my Snow & Ice bike. But during that ride I took a pretty good fall so that kind of bummed out that experience. So really, I'm lacking any type of good winter experience this year. So I find myself held up in the house, at work, or at the YWCA trying to figure out a new way to deal with this winter. Yes my loyal reader, my wedding in Fiji and the thoughts of sitting on our private beach in eighty plus degree weather watching the waves is helping my emotional state but not as much as I would hope it would. But man I love to stare at those photos, they are great! {editor, use your best Tony the Tiger Voice here}

It is during winters like this that people begin to believe that things like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or Cabin Fever are common. While I'm not going to comment on Cabin Fever 'cause in my mind that is "just people becoming really bored," I have see people with SAD and I've experienced what it is like to see a normal rational person become rather bipolar during the winter months. I wouldn't say that I have it, but there are days when all I want is some warm weather, the bright sun light hitting my face, and my car starting with out having to worry that the battery is frozen… Yes it seems that dreaming of the warmth will be my only escape this winter.

2009-01-20T21:51:00.000-06:00

I'd like to introduce Remy Spencer Short. Born January 20th, 2009 to Sharon Stakas-Short and Chris Short. Such a cute kid!

2009-01-03T15:27:00.000-06:00

I've been recently pondering, should I have really been born and raised in the States? Or perhaps, I was meant to be raised in another country. In thinking about it during a recent painful run that required me to focus on something other then the pain I got to thinking. Do you really conform to the lifestyles of your fellow countrymen? Hopefully most of you can say "Yes, I truly identify with the nation I was born in." But in reflecting more about it, I'm finding that I really don't fall into the same categories as a lot of people around me. Here are some of my basic principles and thoughts that seem to back this up.

I like my paper money in different sizes
Wine should be served with every meal
The greatest sporting event in the World is the World Cup, not the Super Bowl
Grocery shopping should be done daily at a local market and not monthly at the big box
It's not called Soccer, it is called Football. And what you call Football is American Football
The best way to get from point A to point B is via a Bicycle
The most important feature in a Car's performance is cornering, not horsepower
The best contact sport in the World is Rugby
Only construction crews and delivery men should be driving a truck, everyone has no reason
Farming is an honorable profession
The proper unit of measurement is the Kilometer, not the Mile.
I put petrol in my car, not gas
You should be able to make your own Espresso
You don't buy croutons from a store, you make 'em
Sailing is the greatest way to travel
The Velodrome is a perfectly appropriate place to go on a date
Cyclocross is not just some bike race in the fall. It is a complete way of life
Product Law Suits are just silly
Meals are for the family to gather and spend time together, not shovel in food
The best production based car racing is Rally Racing and not NASCAR
Those aren't French Fries you are eating, those are Pommes Frites
Not to mention Bike Racing is a Professional sport that happens year round, not just in July for the Tour de France

Was I raised in the wrong country? Or do I just like the living outside of what is considered the normal? What do you think?

2008-12-11T14:33:00.000-06:00

Well, it has now been over a full year since I last crawled into a rally car. My retirement is more or less official now as the sport of Rally continues to grow and evolve so quickly that getting back into the game at this point would be pretty difficult. With Rules, Regulations, Car Build Requirements, etc all changing over the course of two off seasons, it makes jumping back into a race seat a little scary.

So my dear loyal reader, do you think I'd pass up a chance to jump back into a car again and go for a rip around a course? Honestly I don't know anymore. There are days when I go back to SpecialStage.com and read up on events that I've missed and think to myself "how did I walk away from all of this?" And then there are days when I log into the forums and remember the other side of the sport that involves oversized ego, general whining, and the general bitching that happens within every competitive sport. And I think "yeah, I really need to just stop reading this crap and move on."

Am I totally done with Rally? Never, but I'm now a spectator and an enthusiast of the sport. But I think I can officially say that I'm no longer a competitor. But I just can't seem to get the motivation to sell all of my racing gear. Yeah, that is strange isn't it? If I’m all set to walk away from Rally as a competitor, why am I still holding onto the last remnants of the sport? Nostalgia perhaps, or maybe I just want something to remind me that at one point in my life I was considered one of the better Navigators in the US.

So here comes the point where I need to thank a number of people that helped my Rally career over the years.

First there was Mark Larsen who gave me my very first opportunity in a Rally Car. He took that first chance on me, so I tried to give him my best for that opportunity. While I only worked with Mark on a few events, the start that he gave me and the large amount of knowledge that he passed onto me really helped establish myself. I spent a few years as what some people call a "Rally Whore" in which I would crawl into just about any vehicle to further establish myself. While I was able to get a number of local regional rides, I wasn't making a presence on the National scene. So I jumped on a plane and headed out to Arizona for an event on the National Calendar. There I met up with Kurt Spitzner (aka The Marketing Dark Lord) and Dennis Dean the heads of the then Sanctioning Organization. Next thing you know I'm working for the Marketing Team and I'm being flown around to all of the National Championship events, making friends and developing future racing contacts.

Then my Rally focus turned to the internet when I was connected with Jim Konkler, Ben Bradley, and George Plsek. We would all become partners in the regional rally publication called SpecialStage. With Jim's help, Ben's mailer was turned into an internet website. Jim asked me to help out since I was local and knew a bit about html, and my marketing position helped us to be the first with new information. But we couldn't keep up with the demands of an internet site. So George Plsek came on board and turned our little site into a proper internet presences. With the sport of Rally now fully on the internet and moving the sport from a bunch of regional groups into one massive community, whether it was for better or for worse, the four of us were the sole source for media Rally content for years. Oh, did I mention that at this point was working as the Field Producer for the Television coverage of all of the National Events? Yea, I was all about rally! Later I would become the on camera commentator and face of Rally on Speed Vision.

During those first couple of years with SpecialStage.com, George was racing and his now wife Renn was his co-driver. Following her retirement from the sport, Alex Gelsomino jumped into the right-hand seat. But with Alex moving on for a bigger opportunity, George offered me a try out. I took it, and our first race together was the Ramada Express International Rally which was not on the Championship Calendar so I didn't already have an obligation. That would be my first of several events with George over the course of the next seven years working together. I enjoyed racing with George so much, that the following year I turned down the extension on my Television gig, and got into the car with George full time.

But I know that it was George's skill and determination in the car that vaulted my position in the Rally Community. Shortly after I started working with George I was getting emails from overseas and notes from Canada and Mexico asking if I would be interested in moving to one of their teams for an event. I had tryout offers from some of the Manufacturer Teams as well. But none of those offers seemed as good as racing with George. He was the man that got me to my position, and I need to stay loyal to him for that. I'm just thankful that George stuck with me for all of these years when he had numerous others that could have filled my role more easily due to our distant living conditions.

So when George had his second child, and he was thinking about hanging it up. I decided that if he is going hang it up, so am I. And with those thoughts in our minds, George and I went back to the event that brought us together. Back in Laughlin for what would also be that events last running. We crawled into the third car that we raced during our time together and took to the now familiar course. But this wasn't the Hollywood styled ending we had hoped for with us on the Podium for a third straight time. But instead it ended with us pulling off to the side of the road with a shattered front wheel and a car with no brakes.

Rally is a place where dreams and reality clash, and in those moments memories are created that'll never forgot. Thanks so much to everyone along the way that made my time in Rally so special!

2008-11-25T11:31:00.000-06:00

I think it's healthy to experience a good dose of embarrassment from time-to-time. I mean if you don't get completely embarrassed, and I'm talking about that "what the hell am I doing?" type of embarrassment that really freaks you out. You end up floating around with your head in a clouds never wondering or questioning any of the actions that you're undertaking. "Yeap, fer my money, der ain't nott'n better." For some reason embarrassment has this ability to create massive amounts of focus and determination. So really, there isn't anything more helpful at times then a nice big old help'n of public embarrassment. And that's exactly what I got at the State Cyclocross Championships.

Now before you my loyal reader (editorial note – notice singular and not plural) start to feel concerned for my emotional wellbeing, I need to prefix my above statements by saying "I knew I was going to get spanked, I knew it would be painful, and yet I still choose to do it." Yes my sole loyal reader, I can only blame one person for this travesty, and that is myself.

The Minnesota State Cyclocross event will remain in my mind for a long, long, long time. It was easily my worst event ever. I knew full well going into the race that it would be a rough one as I had not broken off from my regular training efforts to save up for this race. Instead I continued with my weight and running training right up to the start of the race which put me in a big hole to begin with.

Sure, I could also try to hide behind the fact that I had a slow puncture and had to hold back on just about every corner. But I was more embarrassed with my inability to keep going, to push myself, and to keep the pedals spinning to the end.

I started the race by taking a bit of a cheeky line to the outside of the field. This paid off as I was able to hit the start/finish line towards the front of the field. But then a rider went down in front of us, and then the field of over one hundred people freaked out and it turned in a screaming mess of bodies by the end of the first corner. Then the usual sprint to catch the front runners was on as they were able to steer clear of the crash and had momentum. That effort sent my heart rate into the red zone, hitting and exceeding my AT threshold while I forced myself to hold onto the pace for far too long. You see, Todd Sample my teammate from the Birchwood Team was just in front of me, so I took up the role of protecting his rear wheel and making some additional space for him so that he could race cleanly. I held onto his wheel for almost a lap as we moved up through the field. Then when my muscles ran out of ATP to keep me going, the Lactic Acid took over and my body started to shut down. I literally felt myself collapse with the style, grace, and the beauty of a new born elephant at that point. "Spin, Recover, and then Get Back In there" was my mantra now. But then I noticed that my rear wheel would roll up on me in every hard right hand corner I took, and that is when I knew my day was done. I yelled to Andy who was warming for his race to try to find me a wheel, but it was pointless. I was already marinated in lactic acid, being cooked by the field and the only thing left for me to do was to be served up to the hecklers on the back side of the course at the huge hill run up…

Then, like in the previous 'cross race the woman's field caught up with me with less then 500 meters to the finish. In hearing the people cheering for what was a very tight race behind me, so I did what I think was the right thing to do. I found a spot on the course that opened up a bit and pulled over to insure I didn't mess up their race. Yes I fell back a couple more positions, but I feel like it was the right thing to do. When I finally got around to finishing the race, I was something like 66th out of 101 starters. This doesn't sound all that bad until you factor in the other fields mixed in with ours. For my category I was damn-skippy close to DFL.

2008-10-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

I believe the saying goes "With enough time, all things will inevitably change…" even our childhood heroes can change into someone, or something that you'd never could have imagined them becoming. This is one of life's lessons that I'm not a real big fan of… Let's be honest, we want our heroes to stay just the way that they are, forever, unchanging, unwavering, and a picture of perfection until their memory is no longer with us.

In recent years we've witnessed the downfall of professional cycling due to performance enhance drugs. Athletes that range from the sport's greatest superstars all the way down to the simple water carriers have been found to be the victim or victimized by these drugs. Unfortunately, the sport has suffered because of us. The public's absolute demand for perfection, our un-quenching desire to see someone doing something beyond what is humanly possible all of the time. And adding fuel to these fires of self-destruction was the corporate sponsors and their money making marketing machines.

Professional Cycling simply took a terrible turn for the worse in the '90s when personal fame and Television airtime took a higher priority then human self preservation.

The downward spiral of cycling reminds me of an automobile accident on a freeway in America. People can't help to slow down just long enough to get that one good look at the horrible carnage and destruction that has occurred. We can't stop ourselves from wanting to see this "other person's" utter misery and suffering for our own entertainment. (editor – see Roman Gladiators, Gentleman Dueling, NASCAR, and every Reality TV show for historical examples) There seems to be something inside of us "that needs" to know what happened to that person. You literally can't help but want to see the damage inflicted on them. But there is a catch, as soon as you've seen just a fraction of what has really happened to that person because of this, you want nothing to do with the images you saw, that person, or that raw feeling that is now left inside you. You wish to wipe your hands and mind clean of everything.

For a short while, America had its perfect Prince of the Pedals in Lance Armstrong. A good kid from a less then ideal home, that over came all of the odds in his battle with cancer and who would later conquer the most demanding sporting event in the World. This should have been the greatest sporting story of our lifetime. But like all things, when you grow up, your heroes aren't always what they appeared to be. And while I will not say that it was originally Lance's call to cross the doping line from in the beginning, it sure didn't help that the US National Junior Cycling Team got him started on that path and helped him with 'the program" early in his life. Some will argue, very successfully, that those actions of our US Team are a direct cause of his cancer. (editor - see articles on Cancer research and the use of steroids, testosterone, cortisone, and human growth hormones.)

But after reading yet another book on the downfall of some this decade's greatest racers, (Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, Jan Ulrich, Tyler Hamilton, Alexander Vinokourov, Francisco Mancebo) I'm starting to realize that perhaps my childhood dream of becoming a professional bike racer was better off not coming true… But like the saying goes "with enough time, all things will inevitably change…" Maybe this time things will start to change for the better and the people that are will put their own lives and those of others, (editor - Coaches and Team Director I'm talking about you here!!!) on the line for a race result will get weeded out of the sport permanently.

But in the mean time, I'll be here at the grassroots racing level having some fun riding my bikes and hanging out with people that are in it for the enjoyment of the sport and not the business of it.

2008-10-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

Currently I'm in the middle of my first cycling off season in... well... it's been a long while since I've had a cycling off season. But the time to relax and reflect has already coming to an end, can you believe that? I've forgotten just how much time and dedication is required to be a fit and proper bike racer. This past cycling season in a way reminds me of my past Rally Racing seasons. You start out early in January freezing your butt off, you then work your way through the wet and cold Spring and move into the heat and dusk of the Summer, only to end it all by freezing your butt off again and finishing up just before Christmas. Both forms of racing only really give you six to eight weeks of vacation a year. Now I just need to find some creativity ways so I don't have to go out for bike rides in minus twenty degree weather.

And since I've already started the strength building phase of my off season training, I'll be spending a lot of time in the gym over the next three months moving tons of iron and lead around with my legs for no reason other then I feel the need to be move them around. This is a phase of training that I intentionally left out of last years plan as I felt that my body wasn't ready for the amount of abuse that three weekly weight sessions and four weekly endurance sessions would put on it.

My reflections back on the 2008 racing season have left me in a pretty happy place. My first season back to racing was designed to be just that, a first season re-introduction that allowed me to gently reinsert myself into the racing game. I didn't enter the season with any goals outside of testing my body to see if it could handle the physical demands and efforts needed to be a bike racer. I also wanted to see if I could handle the mental stress of racing in the close quarters of a large cycling field. I know I passed the first physical test as I was able to get myself into pretty good shape less only a few areas. But the mental stress, I don't feel like I did that well. I was passive and tentative during races. I never really feel comfortable in the larger fields of over fifty riders, and I never found myself moving myself up in the pack when we the race split happened. So I have some work to do there. But all-in-all I feel like I showed some good potential for a guy just getting his feet wet again.

Now turning and looking forward to 2009. I'd like to start by setting some realistic yet challenging goals for myself this season. I've also started working on the process to expand my racing into the Track, Cyclocross and even the potential of running a Marathon next year!!!

I'll share more details of my planned challenges and goals as things start to filter their way out over the course of the Winter.

2008-10-20T11:52:00.000-05:00

Saturday was my first Cyclocross bike race ever, and I have to say right away that it was a pretty brilliant experience. A huge field of 78 guys took to the starting line at Ham Lake Baptist Summer Camp, and at exactly 10 o'clock AM we got the gun for the start of a 30 minute plus one lap race on the 1.5 mile long 'cross circuit.

Okay first the positives things from this race;

-This was (based on my previous viewing of races) a pretty straight forward Cyclocross course with only a few "gotchas" and just a couple of short single track sections in it. Also, there was just one section that had three rather tall barriers in it that forced us to have to dismount and run with the bikes and then re-mount them and continue on with the course.
-The course was fairly flat so we didn't have any of that nasty climbing or running up hills like I was picturing in my mind before I got there.
-The weather was gorgeous, and we couldn't have had a better Minnesota fall day for a ride around in the woods. Bonus, no bugs.
-There was a good turn out from the Birchwood team to support each other at the race. Todd, Kirk, and I took on the "C" race. Andy, Dave, and Taylor took on the "B" race. And then in the select field of 26 for the "A" race, there was Jared and Peter. Aalo was also there as well taking on the role of team photographer and all around good guy.
-We had Hamm's beer and Peace coffee waiting for us at the finish after our race!

Best Positive Highlight of the day, I didn't crash!!!!

The less then great things from this race;

-Wow, am I ever out of shape! With more then eight weeks away from any type of endurance racing really took its toll on me as I went anaerobic early and was never able to recover from it. I was dropped almost immediately after the start section took us off the road and into the forest.
-Andy and I decided after the race that neither of us felt like "battling for position." That really summed up how I felt about that race.
-The finishing area was a bit of a mess when I crossed the line and the officials did there best to record the proper results. But they listed Todd and I as finishing in 45th and 46th spots respectively. I have my doubts about that finish position, but I wasn't in it for a result anyhow, just the experience.
-I had a couple of near falls and was next to one guy when he went down very hard. He went over the top of his bars and sent his bike flying back into the group racing next to him, I was lucky not to get hit by the bike as the guy immediately on my right took the full hit of the bike. Both DNF'd.
-During those "near falls" that I had, your natural reaction is to do everything you can to stop yourself from crashing, so I panicked a bit and in the process I pulled some muscles in my stomach and breathing got pretty difficult after that. But the pain and breathing difficulty cleared up after race a with the aid of some medicine (a couple of beers.)

Worst thing that happened that day, we only had 3 Hamm's Beers before we ran out!

Future plans to do more 'Cross race? I'm not sure as my level of fitness is so low right now that I'm afraid that putting myself on the course could be dangerous to others as I will be lapped. But it is an absolutely ton of fun to do. So I think I'm going to play it by ear for the rest of this season. Perhaps if Sheila and I are looking to go for a nice drive on a pleasant fall day, we can go to a race and I can make a fool of myself in front of my new wife. But otherwise I think it is time for me to stay focused on my 2009 training program and to start working towards those goals and let the 2008 season go.

2008-10-17T12:38:00.000-05:00

I have a "Personal Bicycle Comedy Alert" message for everyone that happens this weekend!!!

I'll be racing in my first ever Cyclocross race this Saturday the 18th in Ham Lake MN. If you don't already know what a Cyclocross is, its a type of bike race that is held on grass, mud, gravel and trails with all kinds of obstacles set up on the course that requires you to jump off your bike and carry it over them and then hop back on and keep racing. Oh and the best part, they love to make you get off your bike put it over your shoulder and run up hills over and over again. Not exactly an easy thing to do....

And now with the weather looking like it will turn cold, rainy, and nasty the course will likely be filled with mud and water, which means that I'll be the guy falling down a lot due to the fact that I'll be trying to do this race in my road racing shoes (as in with no tread to run on) and I also have a lovely feeling that I'll be spending a good amount of time just getting myself up out of the mud.

Hopefully a good number of my Birchwood Teammates will be there to cheer, laugh, and hand me beers while I'm racing by them. Yes, it is a common practice to have people hand you beer while you are racing in a cyclocross race. Yeah, it is the sole reason why I'm willing to race in the mud and cold this weekend. Beers Bikes and Mud! Woo Hoo should it funny and fun at the same time!!!

2008-10-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

Hey! If you haven't heard by now I'll let you in on the news. I got married last week in Fiji on Saturday September 27th.

Sheila and I are now Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Burmeister. Scary isn't it? Jeff a married man?!?!

We'll be building an online wedding album for everyone to see, and I'll make sure I get that up on this website as soon as we get it completed. Until then, I'll let you know that the wedding was incredibly beautiful, the weather was great, and we got married barefoot on the beach in Qamea!!!

[update]
We have them up and available, click this link or use the wedding photo album icon on the right

2008-09-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the garments that are made on the Bravo Show "Project Runway?"

Yeah, I've wondered that too. So far, we have seen that they keep the winning piece on a manikin along the back of the studio, but what about all of the other items? Well, we found out the other day when Wesley's piece from this seasons Episode 1 (the grocery store episode) showed up at our house last night.

Sheila got it from a co-worker yesterday, and she thought it would be fun to show it off a bit. Here are some photos of the Yellow Picnic Table Dress and matching gloves, plus a few photos of Wesley making the item and it on the runway.

2008-09-08T12:26:00.000-05:00

The preparation of food has been one of my favorite past times over the last several years. But over the last several months there has been a bit of a change in priority away from that. Sure it is mainly due to my schedule and with all of the training that is required for competing in cycling and triathlons. But we have the lovely winter months coming, and that'll mean some down time for me, and a chance to start pondering what my winter food project could be.

One of the first styles that comes to mind in which I've always wanted to study in depth is Spanish. Sure, it isn't a one of the standard choices of Italian, French, Asian, etc. But it's in my opinion one of the quickest evolving culinary styles in the world.

I've been in awe of the "new Spanish" cuisine that’s being produced over the last several years. Yes they're the new avant-garde of all things culinary. What happened to the All Mighty French? I not sure, but my first gut reaction would believe that they likely collapsed under their own culinary rule system. I have to believe that it is very hard for the French to develop new and creative cuisine when they have some self imposed preconceptions of what is right and what is wrong with creating food. I can just picture some imaginary overweight French bastard standing over a French chef who has a new idea and is screaming at them "Vous ne pouvez pas le faire!!!" (You can't do that!)

With the likes of people such as Ferran Adria (chef of "elBulli") how could they not be at the cutting edge of all things food? There as zero preconceptions for what food can be, how it is used, what is used, and how it is prepared. Is this the future of food? Perhaps not, but it is taking us to where food has never been, and it is opening a lot of doors into what the future could be. Remember when TV Dinners first hit the market? It changed the way America ate food. This will likely do the same.

And now for the fun news, Ferran Adria has a new book hitting the stores at the end of this month called "A Day at elBulli." And get this, it is affordable!!! Yes, his last four books start at a mere two hundred and fifty dollars!!! Yes they were more science journal the recipe book, but this is the new chemical world of culinary food that we live in.

Oh, here's a fun stat about his restaurant "elBulli." They average over 1,000,000 requests for reservations per year. But they'll only serve 8,000 persons in one year's time. And yes, they are taking reservations for 2009 as of Mid-October! I'm be trying to get a reservation myself. If I get one, it will be the basis of an entire trip to Spain for me! Insert Food-Geek joke here!

2008-08-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of months I've been participating in the National Sport Center's Track Racing Program on Tuesday nights. And I need to say this right away I've absolutely fallen in love with racing at the velodrome. Yes, I know, I don't have exactly the right physical built for being a high-quality sprinter, but the speeds your reach while coming down the forty-two degree banked corner rocks and that makes the effort all worth it.

So, my first year back in competitive cycling has in general been a really exciting year for me. It has really given me a good appreciation for what I've been missing over the years. And yes, I know that I spent a good part of my young adulthood praying for a new velodrome, and once we got it I didn't ride it for almost ten years. Thanks for the reminder, but come on!! I was busying smoking cigarettes, eating fatty foods, and racing rally cars! I have an excuse! Right?

So in a way, retirement from Rally Racing has been good for me. But there is a dark side to this as well.

The Bicycle Fetish is back! You see, now I have this need for more fancy and exotic bicycles! Sure I know that I have always had "good taste" when it comes to my bikes. But now that I have a proper "adult job" I shouldn't be flinching at the price of these things right?!?! Wrong. It is just as hard to pay for the bikes now, as it was back in my teens.

So now I have a new desire to race full time at the velodrome next season and that has me shopping for a new track bike as well. So with my credit cards already maxed out I have started the hunt. Which isn't a great idea. But what is a fetish for if it isn't there to make you buy expensive things?!

So to recap Jeff's current bicycling arsenal
The Road Race Bike - Orbea Orca
The Cyclocross Bike – Bianchi Cross Concept
The Local Commuter – Bianchi San Jose
The Mountain Bike - Bianchi Super Grizzly

That new track bike I alluded too – Still to be determined, but I'm actively looking, and here are some of the frames that I'm considering right now

Van Dessel, Drag Strip Courage
Pinarello, Pista RX
Eddy Merckx, LXM Track
Tiemeyer, Signature
Masi, Coltello

Sad part is, no matter how much I try to cut back on costs, it always ends up with a price tag of $3k. I know, you'd think it would be less for a single speed bike. But it ain't.

So is this a fetish or a burden?

2008-08-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

Look at the great engagement gift that Sheila gave me this weekend! Pretty excellent don't you think?

I've always have been a huge fan of the Omega watches. I have two Omega Seamasters, so getting a Speedmaster is an absolutely perfect gift!

Thanks Baby!

2008-08-25T15:56:00.000-05:00

Today's Random Thought

This morning I looked down at my cycling computer for the first time this month and realized that I haven't re-set the trip counter on it all month long.

Here are some fun details from just my commutes to work this month

Number of days that I commuted to work: 16
Total mileage completed: 342 Miles
Average trip mileage per day: 21.375 Miles
Total time taken: 22 Hours 54 Minutes
Average Pace: 14.9 MPH
Amount of gas saved: 19 Gallons
Or a total fuel cost of 72 dollars

2008-08-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

Random Thoughts and News - America's Cup;

Last month a New York court withdrew the Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC ), which is sponsored by Oracle, from the position of "Challenger of Record" and giving the Swiss Team and Defender of the America's Cup the right to name the Spanish team Desafio Espanol as the official holder of the title.

The ruling also ordered the cancellation of a multi-hulled duel between the two teams that would have decided the next America's Cup in 2009 as a one against one duel.

But the US Team has appealed the ruling. Alinghi, which prefers to hold a traditional regatta involving several yachts, hopes the appeal will fail. Meanwhile the Swiss team has been forced to start building its own multi-hull yacht to be ready at the start of 2009 just in case the appeal is successful and a multi nation event doesn't go ahead.

History seems to be repeating itself, but this time it is the US / Oracle Team thats acting like a childish sore loser. (America's Cup 1988 )

2008-08-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you out there that haven't heard, or that just plain old forgot. Sheila and I are getting married on September 27th in Fiji!

Yes, we decided to go half way around the World to get married. Not because we wanted to get away, but because after looking at the cost of doing a traditional wedding and then adding in our honeymoon etc, it just made more sense to us.

Sadly, this has meant that most all of our friends and families will not be able to join us. But don't worry, we're planning on doing something back here in the States as well once we get home and get all of the sand out of our shoes.

Here are some photos from the resort we are going to have our wedding at.

2008-08-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe it, but after looking at my training calendar last night I realized that my bike racing season is effectively over! This doesn’t mean that I won't be taking part in several rides, and training events still this year. But as for racing, with the possible exception of a late season Cyclocross race or two, it really looks like I'll be hanging up the wheels for 2008 already.

So with the end of every training season you need to sit down and write up a season review. So I've decided to share my season review with you.

I started my first season back to bike racing with some relatively modest goals. Considering that less then a year ago I was on crutches with two broken ankles and that it had been almost eighteen years since I last trained for a bike race. I really didn't know how well my body would take the abuse that training and racing typically dishes out. So, I set my main objectives for the season in a manor that leaned towards being involved for my teammates instead of finishing results. The goals are 1.) Actively support my teammates in all race situations. 2.) Make the main field split in every race. 3.) Improve my peak sustained effort levels.

The first goal went really well. In every race this season that involved a team mate, I either moved to help that teammate or I even drop back from the group I was riding in to help that other person out. During the Criterium Series at the Dakota County College, I teamed up with some other racer who didn't have team mates as well, and we worked as a team. So all in all I would have to say that I feel like I was very successful in the goal.

Going into the start of the season, I assumed that the second goal would be the most difficult goal for this year, making the split in every race. If you aren't familiar with bike racing, the first halves of most races are an all out effort that usually results in destroying most people's will to continue on. Then the remaining people in the lead group tend to recover a little and race amongst themselves. It's an ugly process that eliminates the weaker riders, but this has been happening in jus about every one day race since the beginning of time. I was dropped from the main field only once this season, and that was due to me making an extremely novice mistake of getting caught out at that back of a very large field as we hit a major climb. I was trying to climb through all of the other riders that were being dropped and I wasn't able to reconnect with the main group as the field splintered into pieces. The lesson; position, position, position. You have to be in a good position at the start of any major point on the race course.

The last goal was really all about being able to improving my maximum effort duration for greater and greater periods of time. While I did a terrible job of tracking my fitness progress this year, I did feel the difference in my ability to hold on to other riders in training rides and races. Most notably was my Teams Wednesday Night Hill Rides. The first couple of weeks of riding with the team I was off the back and really hurting. But by mid season I was right up there in the middle of my team and even contesting the first person to the top on a few climbs. All in all, I feel like I did okay in this goal, but I really have a long ways to go if I want to continue to race at higher and higher levels.

The positives of this season are actually pretty numerous. I was able to come to a much higher level of fitness then I thought I'd be able to when I first sat down to write out my season goals. A lot of the guys I raced with on a weekly basis are stronger then I was, but I was able to use race tactics to utilize other people's efforts in ways that allowed me to achieve some great results while hiding my own weakness. Also, my bike handling skills came back very quickly and I was able to use those skills in several of the Criterium races to put myself into good positions and really gave myself the chance to win some races.

Areas I need to improve. Well like I was saying, I was able to out think and out bike handle a lot of guys out there, but I didn't have the legs at the end of these races to put the finishing touches on a win. My last race is a great example of this. I had a strong lead out by Greg of LSCC, and as I went to stand for my sprint I just could get my bike to accelerate any more. I was sitting on second wheel with 200 meters to go in the best possible position and just no power to take the win. Three guys then moved over the top of me and I was left to finish in 4th overall.

I was very fortunately to go a whole season with only two real injuries to speak of. The first was just a summer cold that hit me about five weeks ago now, and I'm now just finally getting out from underneath its affect. The other injury might need some more time to recover from. It seems that during the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, I tore part of my left hip flexor muscle. I blow the pain off as a really bad bruise or just the after affects of having hammered out a 45K time trial. But that wasn't the case, and I've continued to further irate the injury by training and racing on it. So I'll need to take a few months off to really let it heal.

Special Thanks need to go out to Bob from the St Paul Bike Racing Club, for being a great road race coach and mentor this season. To Andy of the Birchwood Team who helped me to re-focus on my skills development. To Sheila for putting up with my training schedule even if I didn't make half of my workouts this year. To Bob at the Nation Sports Center for being my track racing Coach. To Dan at Grand Performance Cycles for setting up our bikes this season. And to the rest of the members of the Birchwood Bike Racing Team for all of the positive support in my first season back on the bike.

Season results:

Summit Silver Crit - June 24th
Cat 5 - 3rd

Birchwood Road Race - June 28th
Cat 4/5 - 34th

Summit Silver Crit - July 1st
Cat 5 - 3rd

Summit Silver Crit - July 8th
Cat 5 - 16th

Summit Silver Crit - July 15th
Cat 5 - 9th

Summit Silver Crit - July 22nd
Cat 5 - 8th

Summit Silver Crit - July 22nd
Cat 4/5 - 27th

Summit Silver Crit - July 29th
Cat 5 - 4th

Summit Crit Point Series Result
4th Overall

Triathlons / Running:
Recycle Run 10K - April 3rd
0:48:42.8

Buffalo Tri - June 1st - Olympic Course
Swim-0:30:25.0 Bike-1:11:30.8 Run-0:52:40.1 Total-2:40:25.9

LifeTime Fitness Tri - July 12th -Olympic
Bike Relay-1.08:04.3

2008-07-10T11:26:00.000-05:00

This coming weekend is a great weekend for Cycling in the Twin Cities area. Not only will we see live coverage of the Tour de France hitting the mountains, but the Eight Annual Bicycle Film Festival is this weekend, the Life Time Fitness Triathlon is Saturday, the Sprinter Classic Road Race is on Saturday, and the Hopkins Criterium Race is on Sunday. An Action packed Weekend for cycling fans!

I'll be taking the bike portion of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon that starts at the crack of "Oh my God it is early" on Saturday. Later that evening we have dinner plans with my old college buddies Tim, Chris, and Andy. Plus I should mention all of their respective wives and children. Then from there, Sheila and I'll likely make an appearance at the Lifetime Fitness VIP party downtown at Martini Blue. You see, we have a really strong Relay Team for the Tri this year, and there is a very good chance we could take a podium position if I can deliver on my end of the relay.

Yes, I'm planning on killing myself out there this weekend. I'm targeting a goal of one hour and five minutes for the 25 mile bike leg. I've decided to give myself a bonus if I can crack the one hour mark (new track bike) but I'm trying to be realistic about my efforts. Especially given that I've been under the weather for almost a week now, and my energy levels have been way Down.

I have heavily modified my Orbea Orca for this weekend. New drop bars, TT aero bars, I have a set of aero carbon wheels coming as well. So I'm kind of excited to see what I can do with a trimmed out bike over this course, given that I was able to do an hour and ten minutes on a stock bike six weeks ago. Weather forecast looks like we will have a lot of wind, so that might really throw a wrench into the works.

Depending on how the legs feel on Sunday, you might catch me at the Hopkins Criterium race trying to mess up the pack with a few solos off the front of the Cat 4/5 field.

Wish me luck and I'll post up results and photos!

2008-07-02T10:47:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like Tuesday nights will be bicycle race nights for me. I've signed up for the Summit/Silver Racing Criterium Series that runs down at the Dakota County Technical College for the next five weeks.

In last weeks race I was more concerned about just being there and finishing off my first race. But this week, I decided that it was time to experiment and try some new tactics and try to learn what I can or can't get away with. This week's field consisted of 14 people, most of whom had at least two or three teammates each. I was unfortunately racing without teammates, so I was looking for ways to break up what was clearly an advantage to their squads but still be able to respond to anything that they threw at me.

We just rolled around the two kilometer course for 3 laps with nothing really happening just sort of watching each other. Then the officials rang the bell for what is called a "Ninja Prime" or more simply put a surprise contest for the first person over the finish line. With the other teams starting to talk amongst themselves, I knew that something was about to happen in the race and that I would be the odd man out. So as the field bunched up on the back straight and when the two guys on the front of the field both reaching down for water bottles, I took off from the back of the field on the left side of the course in an attempt to go off the front with about a kilometer to the line. I was able to really take them by surprise and was able to get a good 20 so meter split, but as I closed in on the finish, I ran out of steam and I was passed coming into the final straight to the finish. Okay, now I know not to good at that distance.

The field is now spread all over the course and I'm touching 180 heart beats a minute and I feel like I can bridge up to the two guys in front of me. But then they nearly come to a stop as well and I realize that I really hurt them. So much so that the entire field pretty much just rolled around the course and we all re-grouped. Yes, not exactly the brightest of tactics as all I could think about was "now is the time to counter-attack!"

So I take a couple of laps to recover and begin to stock the field looking for a move to that would finish them off. Last week the field took itself apart and I just had to deal with the top 3. This week, the whole group was in a bunch and no one looked like they were going to make a move.

Once again, on the back straight I watched and waited, I then moved to the far right backside of the group and tried to wait some more. Then at the point where I knew that if I sprinted, I would be able to get around the front of the field before they hit the next corner I took off. This time about 800 meters from the finish, and hoping that I would be able to hold out for the long sprint again. I heard people trying to respond in the corners, and then I heard pedals hitting the ground as people pedaled through the corners.

I looked back as I entered the last corner and there were two people there, closing but I might be able to hold it out. So I took the fastest line to the finish to force them to go around me. But the two behind had too much momentum and took me about ten meters from the finish. I was pretty upset that I messed up twice in the same race, but I knew then they were the only others out there that were at least as strong or stronger then me. So I guess I'm okay with that.

In the end I learnt that the long solo sprint isn't for me. I need to be at about 400 meters or less to make my move stick. But I did find out that I can split off the front if needed and that I recorded a 34 mph sprint into the wind. Not to bad for an old man like me.

2008-06-30T12:36:00.000-05:00

The Birchwood Café Road Race was this past weekend and since we're the sponsoring club for the race, so the members got to organize the whole thing. Tons of people put numerous hours, dollars and work into this event, and we had what I would consider a pretty successful event.

But like in all things in life, there is always room for improvement. But considering this year was the first year for the new organizers, I felt like we did an extremely good job. Put it this way, I've seen a lot worse. Luckily for us it was a beautiful day, temperature in the mid-seventies, but with a strong wind from the northwest with gust up to thirty miles per hour.

As far as my actually participation in the race. This was a tough one. I spent a lot of time running the week prior and the night of. So I didn't sleep much, but then again I wasn't really worrying about how I would be able to perform at this event. I guess I should actually feel pretty good about finishing considering that I ate nothing but bar food and fast-food for two days prior to the race.

The course is roughly a 14 mile loop of rolling hills around Marina St Croix area of Minnesota. There's one massive hill at about the 11 mile marker that officially lasts only a kilometer at 7.5% grade. But in actuality, it just decreases in how steep it is and goes on until the finish line, roughly 3 miles down the road. But the main part of that hill is the area that everyone was concerned about and that it would ultimate proved to be the separation point for a lot of us.

I unfortunately started out with little to no warm up, so the first several miles were rough as there was a lot of the violent surges that the pack was taking. I near really get all that comfortable, and there was a pack scare that didn't help my confidence when the front of the field suddenly slowed and the back came slamming in. By the time we hit the backside of the course just prior to the climb, I found myself in the back half of the pack and not really feeling like fighting to move forward.

That was my mistake as we hit the climb. I was able to hold onto the field through the climb but at the top of the climb I was caught off guard by a split in the field. By the time I responded to the split and I was a good 100 meters off the back. I grabbed two other guys that were around me and we started to make our way back to the field.

The field continued to be just in front of us for a long time. We worked and worked but the two other guys couldn't hold on or take pulls, so they just dropped off my wheel. I was stuck alone and watching the field slowly pull away. I dug deep as we approached the neutral feed zone, but it was a decent sized hill and the field responded to a move on the front of the field. I lost contact for good at that point.

I carried on for about another 5 or 6 miles and picked up just one other person that also fell off. I looked back and saw a group of 5 coming up from behind us and told the guy I was with that it was time to wait and build up a little group. So we fell back and build up a nice group of about eight at one time that worked well together for the rest of the race. In that group was Michael who was in his very first race and is on the Birchwood Team. He did a great job of taking pulls and holding on to the group. Nice work for your first race Michael!

At times, I rolled off the front of the group during the next few climbs up that hasty hill. But I knew I couldn't go it alone out there in the wind, so I always held off the pressure and let the group roll back to me. At the finish line, the group wanted to sprint for it. So I told them that I would pull for them and that they could have at it as payment for being a helpful group around the rest of the course. It was kind of fun to watch them sprint for the line all tired out. One guy had a rough time of it, so I just gave him a push got him over the line. It was a rough race for everyone out there.

In the end, I had fun, learnt that I still have some pack riding issues, and that I really will need to work on my climbing before I'm ready to race with the big boys.

2008-06-25T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last night was my first road race in over sixteen years. So I was a bit nervous about being put in with the Cat 5 field with about twenty-five other riders in an eclectic mix of ages and skill levels. Unfortunately, I think I was close to the oldest person in the field... sigh.

The course was laid out in a pretty easy format, less two sets of four back-to-back corners about 100 meters from the start finish line. There was also a nice breeze that ended up holding the group together for almost the entire race.

I was trying to ride a patient race, but with two laps to go, the field was slowing and no one wanted to pull into the head wind. So I jumped off the front of the group to force the issue and created a split that dropped about half the field. I then dropped back and sat in on what was left of the field until we entered the two sets of four corners on the last lap.

I tried to make my move from the tenth position and with about 500 meters to go. Coming into the final corner I had put myself in second position and I was closing on the final rider pretty quickly. He made a move to protect the favored outside of the corner so I tried to do a late apex on the corner and try him on the inside and hold on for the sprint.

I was carrying too much momentum into the corner and ended up overlapping his wheel to the right (wrong side) he then rode me to the outside of the road and then off the road and into the gravel. I tried to just ride it out and not go down at that point. I was eventually able to hop back up onto the road and finish the last 20 yards of the sprint. But I lost a position while playing in the dirt and ended up in third.

I'm very happy with this result given my absence from cycling for such a long time, plus the knowledge that I could've taken the win at the line if I'd been a little bit more patient.

2008-06-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

Over the last six months or so, I've been trying to train for my first triathlon competition ever. This took place over this past weekend. Here my little story about it.

While I had high expectations and goals set for myself in my first triathlon event ever, I tried to be realistic at the same time. Yes, I was skipping over the Sprint Triathlon length and going directly to the Olympic length. Yes, given the weather conditions in Minnesota this spring this would be my first open water swim of the year. Yes, in fact this would be my first time wearing my new wet suit. And yes, this would actually mark the longest distance I've been able to run outdoors this season. So, as you can see, I had a lot of things stacked up against me right from the beginning.

The Swim. Or the thing that I dreaded the second most.
First off, the water temperature was a balmy 65 degrees. Not what I would call ideal for a pleasant morning (1.5km or .9mile) swim. But with a full length wetsuit from Xterra that was a hook up from my friend George Plsek, I was able to deal with the water temp without a serious problem. But what I wasn't accounting for was how the wetsuit would hold my chest in while I tried to breath. So I caught myself coming up for panic breathes that lead to me gulping in air and swallowing a good portion of that. This would became a problem that will haunt me later in the race.

My second difficultly with the open water swim was the lack of directional assistance underwater. In the pool you have those lovely lane lines that are almost hypnotic in color that allows you to swim all day without having to worry about where you're going or what you're about to bump into. Sadly, my lack of competitive open water swimming left me to zig-zag my way around the course all morning long. At one point I almost ran head first into a safety boat that was a full 10 meters off the course line. I was beginning to think that I was navigating more by a sense of smell then by visional direction. I'd have to say that I easily added on a tenth of the total length onto my race. Something I'll have to defiantly improve on if I every decide to do this again. Swim Time, 30:25

The transition. Cha-Cha-Change
Okay, so you always see the pro-triathlon people come screaming into the transition area, slap on their gear and they're out of the transition area in just a few seconds. Well in my World it wasn't going to happen that fast. Yes, I was able to get my wetsuit down and off pretty easily. I was able to run the 400 yards or so through the transition area, and I found my spot without a problem. I was even able to get my gear on at a good rate of speed. But I'll be honest, after I got out of the water, I was just happy to be there and I wasn't all that focused on "the racing" at this point. I checked my watch and saw that I was a full 5 minutes up on my T1 time goal so I was pretty happy at this point. I even chatted with the guys next to my in the transition area while we all suited up for the bike phase. Something that you won't see a pro doing. T1 time, 3:15

The run to the bike. Or, I got to do a warm weather cyclo-cross!
Yeah, this was kind of fun. See you have to run with your bike out of the transition area to the line at which time you're allowed to mount your bike and take off. I decided to put my shoes on first instead of trying to already have them connected to my bike pedals and then try to put my shoes on while I was pedaling my bike. That is one of those "Pro-things" that they'll do to save time. But saw that there was a hill right after the mount line so I stuck with the old school style. The humor that I found with this phase of the race was that there were a number of Sprint course people that hit that line, they would come to a complete stop and then hopped on their bikes and with no momentum and then they were stuck just sitting there trying to get moving. So, I tried to embrace my inner winter cyclo-cross racer and came up to the line at a full run, hopped over the bike, mounted it, hit both pedals with the first try, locked in and was up and sprinting out the area in a fraction of the normal time. This was easily my "chic Triathlon moment" of the event! ...Or was it simply my least ugly moment?

The Bike Ride. Or, all men are not created equal
Okay, first things first here. I was racing on a stock road racing bike, as in no cool aero Time Trial bars, no cool Time Trial wheels, and no cool aero-affects of any type. Basically, I lacked cool for this phase. I was somewhat of an "outsider" compared to the other racers by their definitions. And they (being anyone that takes too much pride in their sport and their ability to compete in it) definitely looked down on me for this. In fact, I had a number of guys that I caught on the bike leg that ended up cracking themselves trying to stay with me. In their minds you could hear "See that guy on a normal road bike blowing past me on my Ten Thousand dollar Time Trial bike with every bell and whistle know to man. I'm all slammed down into what science says is the most efficient position on the planet, and this pointy helmet thing stuck on my head makes me silly, but I'm faster then this guy right?!" Yes, getting pasted by "a normal guy" pisses "them" people off… And they chase you for it! So, knowing me, I had a little fun with it.

Knowing your limitations. Or, why some can't climb hills
The Time Trial is easily the most difficult discipline in all of Bike Racing. And I'll be honest here, this was never my strong point. But I've always had a good head for managing my efforts and knowing when to push and when to just roll. I decided to save a lot for the run and settled in at an average pace of about twenty-one miles per hour. The Bike course (40km or 24.8 miles) for the triathlon was a large one lap circuit that also had a turn around point in it. Not the greatest designed course, but it was the same for everyone, so why bitch about it? But the point here is, that the course was littered with small climbs. Nothing that was back breaks and nothing that would really hurt someone if they thought about what they were doing, but there were large enough to force people out of their standard time trial position and have to manage their efforts. So, I was able to play with a number of other competitors. They would catch me on the flats and get a few meters in front of me. Then we would hit a small hill and they would panic, break their rhythm, I would pass them, crest the hill and I would continue to pull away while they tried to recover and figure out what gear they should be in. Then they would start their effort all over again to pass me. Now repeat this… for say about an hour. Now just picture their faces, and picture me giggling most of the way around the course.

The only point in the race that was silly on "their" parts' was the 180 degree turn around point. I was watching that turn around the whole way down to it, and not one person out of the say 20 people in front of me hit the turn correctly. People coasted up to it, slowly braked into in and then found themselves in the wrong gear and struggled to get out of the turn and back up to speed. I shifted to my exit gearing first, then focused on pedaling hard right up to the last moment and then braking hard, turning into the corner early and setting up on the longest straight line out of it that I could. I passed five people on this corner alone. Bike Time 1:11:30

Transition two, the running of the bike to the run.
Okay, not a chic as my out transition, but I got my shoes taken off while I continued to pedal the bike using my shoes turned upside down and standing on the bottoms of the pedals. Then it was one leg over and standing on only one pedal up to the line, break hard, hop down and running with the bike into the transition area. I found my spot without a problem again. I dropped the bike, picked it up again, then actually hooked it onto the bike railing and then shoved my feet into the running shoes. I threw my helmet onto the bike, slapped my running hat went on, grabbed a bottle of water out of my bag, slipped my iPod into the back of my shirt and off I go. Transition Time 2:37

The Run. Or, Hades actually has it pretty good down there.
First of all, I'm not a runner. I've never run very well. I don't intend to ever run well, and I don't really like running… So why am I doing this? Oh yeah, we have too. That is a good enough reason for me. The run phase (10km or 6.3 miles) was your basic death march for me. This was made even worse by the fact that they had us running out on a country highway, as in with no shade for the whole run, and the sun actually decided earlier in the day that this day would be the brightest and warmest of the year. {Insert your favor childhood sunburn memory now and remember that for a bit} You see I really don't enjoy running that much. Wait I think I've already said that. Nope, that fact hasn't changed since the last time I mentioned it. So I just looked at my watch, did the math backwards and realized that I'd still make my event time goal if I just put one foot in front of the other… (if you started to sing the Chris Cringle Christmas song, "Just Point One Foot in Front of the Other," you need to seek professional help immediately) So now I'm trying to get that damn song out of my head while running through what feels like hell. Oh!!! Remember all of that air I gulped down way back during the swim phase? I was suddenly starting to remember it too as my stomach began to really cramp up from the massive amount of air in my system. It got so bad that I had to stop for a few seconds at first, then I would start up again and get about two hundred yards and then I would have to stop again. I tried as hard as I could to force that air out of my system. It just won't. So I pressed on until about the four kilometer mark were it seemed to start to feel a bit better. And then it happened, I suddenly had a deep desire to kill myself followed by what I can only dimmly recall from my Rugby days in College as a series of massive dry heaves. And then it was over, no more tummy ache. I was actually able to run without pain again. While I had lost several minutes at this point from the stopping and the heaving, I was able to get myself re-focused and aiming at my goal again. Then after what I can only call the most morbid turn around point of my live, a hill top Cemetery (see the Hades reference is starting to make sense now itsn't it?) it was all down hill from there, well, not really but things got much easier for me.

The Finnish, or how could I confuse the people of Finland with completing a Race
Sheila was at the Triathlon with me, and she was there to help support and encourage me in my efforts to not really suck a lot at my first attempt at a triathlon. The fun part for me was she volunteered to be one of the people at the finish line to help take off the timing chips from the competitors. So I knew I'd get to see her the second I crossed the line. This is a real bonus for me since I was seriously hurting at this point. I can see the balloon arch that is the finish line up ahead, the PA announcer calls out my name as I make my final one hundred yard kick and then I'm suppose to see her as I cross the finish line… But where is she?! All I see are three high school kids standing in front of me, man I really need some water, and they're just staring at me like when I had this huge zit on my face back in high school… and they all noticed it. Then I realize that they have little medals to give us. So I pick the one of the girls that looks like she wouldn't laugh at me (at least not out load) and I stumbled up to her and I take off my hat, she slaps it on me and I suddenly realize that I have a really bad sunburn going on. Damn you Hades. But wait a second, where is Sheila?!?! She is supposed to be here right? Okay, I have to... where is the water at... need to keep moving so I don't cramp up and end up on the ground like the old man that I am. Okay what is up with the two guys down on one knee each. Man I need some water quick. Oh wait, they here to help people to take off… "Jeff!!!!" {camera shutter noise, followed by what feels like more of a tackle then of a hug} Not a bad way to finish a race actually. Okay, found Sheila, but where is that water at? Sheila gives me a kiss, reaches down and takes off my timing chip and she says what at that time was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard her say. "Baby, the water table is right over there." Joy over comes my entire being, but then I suddenly realize that I can no longer walk. Panic. followed by a good shove in the right direction from Sheila and I have two water bottles in hand, strike that, I now only have one bottle in hand, wait, where was that water table at again, I need a couple more bottles. Run Time, 52:40

Total event time, 2:40:25
Event Time Goal 2:45:00
Overall position 206th, and 65th in my age group.
Total event entries, 1500
Total Olympic entries, 500
Average Swim Pace - 1:56 / 100 yards
Average Bike Pace - 20.8 mph
Average Run Pace - 8:29 mile

I can honestly say now that I've completed my first Triathlon in a fairly competitive time. What the hell was I thinking when I decided to sign up for this?!?!

2008-05-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

On Sunday April 27th the World became less of a good place to live in when my friend Christopher Mark Brooder passed away. While I don't know or understand the circumstances or situations involved in his decision to take his own life, I do know that he was a good friend, a good person, and had a wonderful future in front of him if he was just willing to work his way through what was troubling him at that moment.

I've always been a bit of a fighter, and so I've always felt that there is no challenge and no situation in any one person's life that is so terrible that they can't find a way to overcome their difficulties. Your friends and family will always be there for you, no matter how rough things might seem, or how distant you might feel from them at that exact moment. I try to remember that we all have to struggle and fight our way through life so that when we do experience the good times that they seem so much better and meaningful for us.

We all wish that Christopher would have made a dramatically different decision that day, so that this terrible event would not have happened. But because we can't change what has happened, we all need to carry a bit of him around with us so that we will all remember that when things seem like they're getting to be too much for us, we can stop and look back at the lessons learnt today by our pain and grieving in the lose of Christopher so that we can keep on fighting because the light at the end of the tunnel can be reached if we try hard enough.

We will miss you Christopher.

Brooder, Christopher M. age 39, of St. Louis Park, MN, formerly of Delavan, WI, passed away Sunday, April 27, 2008 at his home. He was born October 20, 1968 in Fond Du Lac, WI, the son of Louis and Bertha (Velvikis) Brooder. He married Susanne Leighton in July of 2005 in Minneapolis. He graduated from Winona State with a degree in Photo-Journalism. Chris traveled the country winning many awards with his photography. He was an independent Web Designer in the Minneapolis area. He is survived by his wife, Susanne of St. Louis Park, MN; his father, Louis Brooder of Delavan; a sister, Tracy Kramer of Hubertus, WI; his mother- in-law & father-in-law, John and Sue Leighton of Minneapolis, MN; a niece, Jennifer of Alabama; a nephew, Jonathan of Oconomowoc, WI. He was preceded in death by his mother, Bertha. Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 AM Friday, May 2, 2008 at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Delavan with Fr. Brian Holbus officiating. Visitation will be from 9:00 AM until time of service at the church in Delavan. Burial will be at the St. Andrew's Catholic Cemetery in Delavan. - Published in the Star Tribune on 5/1/2008.

2008-04-09T15:42:00.000-05:00

While it has been some time since I've posted to this Blog Site, I haven't been neglecting keeping a journal of things going on. I was shown, a few months back, a website by George Plsek that acts as a training log. The free site http://www.sweat365.com/ has a nice and easy interface that allowed me to keep track of what I was doing getting ready for my return to cycling, and my explorations into the World of Triathlons.

I also found that when you post here on Blogspot, that it can be pulled across to that site and replicated content, which is kind of neat if you are a web admin and you need to duplicate content. But with all of that going on, I kind of noticed that I've begun to ignoring my Blogspot site.

So I'm back with some updates and some general random rambling.

Sheila and I are doing well together. She has been living with me now for just over 6 months and we haven't tried to kill each other yet…. Yet. J But I think we're pretty good together and we're really getting to know what its like to live together. I'm sure if you sat her down and asked her, she'll have a number of complaints about living with me, but hey, I'm human you know.

Otherwise I'm still actively training for the Buffalo Triathlon on June 1st. I was somewhat surprised by my original increase in fitness level. It was really noticeable during my bike commutes to work. They've have felt much easier, and a number of the climbs on my way to work seem like non-issues compared last fall. So I'm pretty happy about that. But I've had a chance to get out and do a few team rides with my new cycling team. And I've learnt that things are not all "Roses and Buttercups" regarding my current fitness levels. I'm trying to come to grips that I'm getting older. I'd like to say that I'm okay with it, and for the most part I think I am, but on these ride I've been getting dropped a number of times and that is really heart breaking. Yes I know I've been away from competitive cycling for a period of time longer then most dog's lives. But the memory of being able to climb the hills and sprint to the breaks is still there, but my mind and my body are in complete disagreement as too what I'm physically capable of.
Oh, as a side note to the training progress, or lack of. Sheila and I finally received our new race bikes. We're both very stoked to have them at home now. I'm overly impressed with both bikes to be honest. We both have Orbea bikes, Sheila has an Aqua and I have the Orca. Orbea is a Spanish bike company that has been around for a very long time, one of the originals actually, but their involvement in the US has been limited until lately. The geometry of the bikes are very much like that of a Bianchi which is good news for me as that geometry has always fit me very well.

The consulting firm that I work for, Accenture has a pretty good employee rewards program. It is very similar to the reward programs that you get from say a visa or an American Express. You get a number of points that you can use in their little shopping system. So, after being with the firm for almost two years, I've been able to build up enough point to get an espresso maker! Yeah, okay I could have gotten something more practical. But I've always wanted a proper espresso maker. So know I'm trying to learn the ways of the Barista and I can be heard cranking out Lattes on weekend mornings.

I'm out of time for now. So I'll write up a bit more shortly.

2007-12-21T15:50:00.000-06:00

In a way, I don't think this should come as much of a real shock to many people, but it is slowly starting to surprise (or is scare a better word? –editor) me. Sheila and I have entered the 2008 Triathlon of Buffalo. Yep, a triathlon, and it will be my first ever. So to make sure I get the full experience, I've decided to contest the Olympic course of the event. 1.5K Swim, 40K Bike, 10K Run.

So in order to make the event date of June 1st for the Tri, I've switched around my training to include three swimming sessions and three running sessions per week. This comes in over the top of my base cycling and weight lifting training programs. Summed up, we are on an average of two hours a day, six days a week now. Unfortunately it will reduce my time on the bike for a few months. But given my general lack of high endurance effiency right now, the running and swimming should more or less directly substitute for time on the bike.

The root of my cycling goals of the 2008 season have really focused on just taking the full season to get back into competitive shape. The effects of taking a few (cough, cough –editor) years off from competitive endurance sports and replacing it with copious quantities of cigarettes, wine, duck fat, beer, demi glaze, starchy foods, and general laying about the house have really taken affect.

While this has caused the first several months of base build training to be rather difficult, I've started to hit a bit of a stride now and progress is starting to be made in the muscle endurance areas. My lactic threshold tests have already seen an increase of almost 10 hrt-bt/m which is a great sign of my returning to conditioned form. Other areas such as Peak Wattage produced and Impulse Power will take months and months more training to see these return to even close to were I once was. But the early results are very promising.

The secondary results of my training are that my injuries from the accident back on May 1st are starting to clear up. Well, all but my right foot problems. I'm still struggling with some weird pains when I put weight on the front of my foot. I'd like to get back into the hospital to have a specialist checked it out, but the insurance guy from USAA Insurance is having a hard time issuing the checks to my so that I can pay my medical bills. So long story short, I limp from time to time and I'm in need of a good insurance lawyer. (as your lawyer I strongly recommend you rent a fast convertible, buy several Hawaiian shirts and make your way to Las Vegas. –editor)

2007-12-12T09:30:00.000-06:00

There has been just a massive number of changes announced for the 33rd America's Cup competitions. They've absolutely taken the FIA Formula 1 format to heart in their announcement of the generalize, but not formalized rules for the 2009 start of competition.

The fundamentals of the 33rd America’s Cup Format that will contain a full new class of boat called the AC90 and will attempt to put controls in place that will help the syndicates maintain their costs.

Some of the generalized Goals for the 33rd America's Cup are as follows.

- Only allow one boat per team to sail at any time (no speed trials, no second crew)
- Limit the number of sails that can be made for that boat (less and less inventory)
- Limit the total amount of sailing time (less sail inventory replacements)
- Restrict two-boat sailing to races organized by ACM (no idea what this saves)
- Allow the Defender to race in the actual Trial races (no need for several defender boats)
- Set up a Trial system which ensures intense racing and minimizes the impact of the Defender on Challenger selection. (people bitched about points)

"Reducing costs" have been again the choice of words used to justify the sweeping changes to the Cup series. Much like what we are seeing happened within the F1 series for 2008. And like F1 returning to more twitchy cars, the Cup is returning to out of control boats.

This is the most interesting thing in my mind. These boats will be longer (90 foot), faster, squirrelly to sail due to center point, and fast.... Scary fast. So the sailing will make for better TV action. Given that being perfect on the course will be more and more difficult to pull off.

There has been talk of reducing the crew number while increasing the square footage of sail. This will force the skippers to think about the level of their crews strenght and not just assume that they can tack battle all the way up the course.

The full AC90 boat rules are post here, and it is amazingly boring stuff. But if you're into boat design, it is very twisted thinking.

I'm pretty excited about the Boat rule changes, but I'm a bit concerned about not allowing teams to do speed trials for boat development with in a team. With no boat to race side by side with, you have no back up crew to fill in at a seasoned level, and you are forced to take design chances that might cause teams to have to junk a full boat because they can't really get a level of speed until they are in competition.

I'm not alone in these feelings, and I'm sure that once the formalized rules do show up. We'll all see some changes to the changes.

2007-12-05T14:29:00.000-06:00

The design for the new team gear for the Birchwood Bike Racing Team has come in. Pretty impressive isn't it?

The stellar design work was completed by our own team mate Randy, who is a heck of a nice guy and a pleasure to ride with.

The clothing itself is being produced by by one of my favorite clothing manufactures, Louis Garneau

So keep an eye out for the blue train of the Birchwood Bike Racing Team this Spring.

2007-12-05T14:05:00.000-06:00

The Cyclists' Apocrypha

In the beginning God created the bicycle, saw that it was good, then went for a nice Sunday ride on the bike lanes He'd made the day before, and they were good, too, because they were new and He had the angels keep them clear of debris. Later, of course, God would get cross and have the flood wash all the good ones away.

And God said to Himself, Let us create man, because cycling is too much fun to keep to Myself, and so He created man, him did He create, create did He him do. And God put man in paradise, and commanded him, Glideth upon the earth anywhere thou wisheth, except for that big hill over there. For on the day thou goeth down that hill, thou shalt surely die.

And God said, Man needs a companion to keep him from spending too much money on new bicycles. So God caused man to fall into a deep sleep by asking him if he wanted to go clothes shopping at the mall, then took a rib from him. Then God said to Himself, Who am I kidding, I'll never hear the end of it when she finds out she was just a rib, so He created woman from frankincense and myrrh and a certain je ne sais quoi.

And God said, Let man have dominion over lathe drills and Philips head screwdrivers, and let woman have dominion over everything else, and as long as thou art naked and unashamed, thou might as well be fruitful and multiply.

Lastly, God created the chicken and the egg, in that order, which should clear up that matter.
Now the serpent, he was a wily one, and he said to woman, Yea, hath God said you may cycle anywhere but down that hill? And the woman said unto the serpent, That's about the size of it: go downhill and die. And the serpent said, Ye shall not surely die, you probably won't even fall off. For God doth know that on the day you go downhill, you will not need to pedal for a long time. Go on, give it a try.

And the woman saw that the hill was good, she did not need to pedal for a long time. She told the man about it, and he also went downhill. Their eyes were opened, they saw they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves into padded cycling shorts because sometimes it got bumpy going downhill.

And they heard the voice of God as He was offroad, fully suspended of course, and they hid their bicycles at the bottom of the hill and started whistling nervously. And God called unto the man, and said, Where art thou? And the man said, We art down here. And God said, Hast thou cycled downhill, whereoff I commanded thee that thou shouldest not? And man said, It was her idea.
And God said unto the woman, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow whilst climbing hills; in pain shalt thou perch upon thy saddle.

And God said unto the man, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, cursed is regular bike maintenance. The inner workings of the hub gear will be beyond thou to repair. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou service thy freewheel.

And God said, Behold, the man doesn't listen very well, so he kicked him out of paradise and guarded the entrance with a sign of a picture of a bicycle in the middle of a red circle. And He had a Cherubim with a flaming sword stop by a few times a week for good measure.
This is the book of the generations.

The first bicycle was a single speed, a Godspeed, but after that it got complicated. Sprockets begat freewheels begat cables begat kinks. Celerifere begat Draisienne begat Macmillan begat Michaux begat Ariel begat Bayliss Thomas begat Lawson begat Rover begat Boneshaker begat Ordinary begat Raleigh begat Huffey begat Trek begat Fischer begat LeMond.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth in a critical mass, God saw that the wickedness of man was great and he did not like to give way to anyone on the road even his mother, so He directed Noah to build an ark made out of renewable resources. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark every type of bicycle: one to ride and one for spare parts. And Noah gathered two touring bikes and two mountain bikes; two recumbents and two tandems; two road racing bikes and two cross bikes; also four unicycles, just in case there was a misunderstanding, and a brace of Bromptons, as their folded countenance pleasethed Him. And God said there might be some strong winds from the Southeast. And it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, then drizzled for another fortnight.

And God remembered Noah and asswaged the waters, and Noah opened a door on the ark and set loose Japheth on a unicycle, and God said This is a covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature: that a man on a unicycle is a hilarious sight. The waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

A bit later, God spoke unto Moses, saying, Here are a few ground rules, I hath numbered them for thou for easy reference:

I. Thou shalt not hold other races above the Tour de France.

II. Thou shall always dawn thee helmet fore man is fallible.

III. Thou shalt not take My name in vain everytime thou gettest a flat tyre.

IV. Remember to oil thy chain, to keep it rolling.

V. Honour the Crosswalk, and those walking upon the face of it.

VI. Thou shalt not ever ignore other road users, for they see you not.

VII. Thou shalt not steal bicycles.

VIII. Thou shalt not kill, except bicycle thieves.

IX. Thou shalt not hang onto moving cars, unless true needed.

X. Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's new bike, nor his mountain, commuter, recumbent or training bike, nor shall ye covet his groupsets, nor even his stylish sun glasses.

Forget not the Titanium Rule: Signal unto others as thou wouldst have others signal unto thou.
And moving right along, there came four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and they were the Taxicab Driver, and the Motorcycle Messenger, and the White Van Man, and the Man Opening a Car Door Without Looking.

Sam WalkerCycling Plus, January 2001

2007-11-28T13:54:00.000-06:00

You can usually tell our team's result from at a race based solely on the amount of time it takes for me to post a message regarding it. Sadly it has been several weeks since the race, and I'm finally get around to posting about it. So by definition, we had a DNF.

I'd like to say that this year's Laughlin International Rally was up to par with previous year's events, but the quality of the event has been on a steady decline for years now. It wasn't that the roads were bad or that the operations of the event were bad, it was just the general atmosphere and what has been a steady decline in the focus on the Rally competition. This year's event was one of the least enjoyed events I've ever attended and it was definitely not the way that I wanted to leave rally as a competitor.

The actual events of the rally were an outline of our standard bad luck type of event. Our stage times started off a bit slow given that we did the "show and go" program this year and didn't arrive three days earlier to perform a recommended reconnaissance of the roads. But we did a good job of holding onto third position overall in the early parts of the race. Then on the second half of the opening leg, the attrition began. Seamus Burke, Jeff Regester, Jason Waples and Celsus Donelly all went out of the event with various problems. Suddenly the top 10 cars were down to the top 6.

We started to push hard on day two, the opening stage stages saw us taking time out of the leading car of Todd Mobley, but he was able to build up a massive lead on day one as to not have to push for the rest of the event.

Then on Stage 9 the Diamond Creek Stage, our nemesis of stages in North America, it happened. At about mile mark 7.5 there is a left hand bend in the road that goes on for about 400 meters (L5/400) during that corner George notices that the car wasn't feeling right. Our right front tire was going down. Then as we went through a small water wash in the road after the corner, the whole front end of the car slammed down as the tire was lost. I saw rubber flying past my window out of the corner of my eye as I continued to read the notes and informed George I saw it let go.

I told George that we were 8.5 miles from the finish at that point, [the photo was taken at this point in the stage] George was determined to finish off the stage and then change the tire which was the right call given we were under the 10 mile barrier. About a mile later I saw / felt / heard the wheel collapse and that was it. The car landed on the brake disc and brake caliper. About a second later I watched those part go flying past may window and that was it. The car ground to a stop on the left side of the road and our race was over. Diamond Creek Stage had won again.

The only years we have been able to muster our way past this stage we have finished in 3rd place (2006, 2004, 2001) All other years, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 we left the rally at this or on the transit from this stage… I seriously hate that stage!

2007-10-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the photos from the Colorado Rally. It was a tough event that didn't see George and I finish nearly as well as we should have. The Tatomotorsports U.S. Rally Team ran into numerous mechanical problems during the event that held us back from a good result.

First was a shattered drive shaft that left the car with only rear wheel drive for three stages. Then as soon as we got that repaired, a late called note resulted in too much preasure on the rear brake lines and we burst a brake line. That lead to no brakes at all. But we pushed on with no brakes in the Colorado Rockies. Not a cofortable thing when you're going at high speeds. The first image is us with no brakes on a tough road.

The Tatomotorosports' crew did a great job of keeping us in the event. On the third day of the event, we finally had a chance to run without any mechanical issues. Unfortunately, the rains started and the road deteriated quickly. This forced the event organizers to cancel most of the stages that were scheduled for that day. But we still moved from 16th overall to 12th in just a few miles.

Hopefully, the Laughlin International Rally in two weeks will treat us better.

2007-10-21T23:39:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm in the middle of pulling an all nighter for work, and I've hit a spot where I have to sit and wait for some systems to replicate. Meaning I have an hour or so to burn. So with that I thought I'd post some food images from this summer.

I've been trying to keep up on my cooking over the summer, but at times it is tough to make the time. But I did however find one weekend were I was able to get a whole day to myself. I got out of bed at the crack of "Oh my God its early!" Oh and a quick word of warning to all of my friends that, like me, have a hard time dealing with "morning people." The Farmer's Market is like Mecca for these people. Avoid it unless you have had a full interveious espresso drip going for a good hour before hand.

Roasted Duck, French Onion Soup and Pesto day;

The Farmer's Market haul, my idea of the ideal dry work station and the duck just before it goes into the oven.

3 Cups Fresh Basil, loosely packed with large stems removed
3 Tablespoons Pine Nuts, lightly toasted in the oven or a dry skillet
2 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 Cup Parmesan, freshly grated
1/2 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt, to taste

French Onion Soup, recipe to follow

2007-10-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

New photos of my nephew Brian.

2007-10-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

Great news everybody! There're some good people out there. Especially Nelson, a Boston based flight attendant for United Airlines. Nelson found my iPod and held onto it until he returned from being on holiday so that no one else would be able to get their greedy little hands on it. Thus making sure that it found it's way back home.

Also, thanks to Jennifer of United Boston who is the on board coordinator who is shipping my iPod back to me.

See the Music Monkey works... don't mess with the Monkey!!!

**A follow up note related to my lost iPod. I just received my lost iPod via Fed Ex... Perhaps it's karma, chi, chili sauce, The Grateful Dead, or whatever coscmic balancing forces you like took over. You see, I got a replacement iPod from Sheila as my birthday, and my lost iPod has came back to me destroyed in shipping... I'm thinking it is one of those "Circle of Life" things.

So in the end, Nelson and Jennifer get some positive karma and escaped the wraith of the Music Monkay, and my birthday present from Sheila is truly needed gift that I treasure.

2007-10-12T13:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me... Got some cool gift, including a new iPod from Shelia and a couple of Twin Six T-shirts from my parents.

2007-10-04T06:53:00.000-05:00

A bunch of photos from our most recent trip to California. We were in the Santa Ynez Valley doing some wine tours, and then we swung down the coast to San Clemente for the Boost Pro's of Surfing.

2007-09-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

The big news from my most recent vacation is... I'm engaged!

Yep, Sheila and I have taken the next step and we're going to get married.

We were on a vacation to California to go to a surfing contest for a fundraiser auction that I had won, but just going to the contest seemed like a waste of an airline ticket. So we talked about it and we both mentioned that we'd like to see the California wine regions. So a rental convertible, a change in the airline tickets, and off we went to the Santa Ynez Valley for a bike tour of wine country!

I don't know if you have ever seen the film Sideways, but this is the area that they toured and filmed it in. So as we biked around, we saw a lot of the wineries and town locations from that film. Kind of fun, but silly in a way. Anyhow....

On our second night in Santa Ynez, I asked Sheila if she would marry me, and I was lucky enough to have her say Yes. So there it is everyone. This old man is engaged to be married. No dates, no locations, no real plans to be honest about when or where the wedding will be. But we'll be working on it.

2007-09-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

To the person that found my lost iPod in the magazine pouch on an A320 United plane Seat 19E most likely in the Denver Terminal:

The music Monkey will be out to find you! He knows that my website is etched on the back of the iPod, and he knows that you got very curious who's iPod it was that was burning in your hands.

So you thought you would check the web address on the back just to see who it was. If they happen to live close by, If there was a chance you might be found...

But there is a chance that you might be a cool person that is interested in retaining your positive karma and not bring down seven years of bad luck upon yourself. You might email me and I'll pay for the shipping of it back to it's rightful owner, thus avoiding that bad karma. Email Jeff (at) Burmeister dot com

But if you aren't into positive Karma, the good luck to you getting it to work, I have had a hell of a time getting it to work lately. Plus with the negative mojo that you have coming down on you, you'll be lucky to get it to work even once!

2007-09-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

An update on my scooter accident recovery seems like a good way to start back up with my web journal.

I've been able to get on and stay on my bike for longer and longer periods of time now. I have something like 600 miles logged on the bike since the accident, but sadly this isn't the good news that I was hoping for. I'm still suffering from a really strange hamstring injury related from the accident.

Doctors aren't sure what it really is, or how to address it. So I 'll need to return to the clinics for more testing, more poking, more prodding, and more bills... Sigh.

Otherwise, the ankles and broke foot bones seemed to have healed up well enough now that I can get around like a normal person. And I even tried running the other week. It didn't go all that well, but I was able to knock out a couple of miles before I became too sore to continue.

The good news is, I now feel like I'm ready to return to auto racing now. Even though this season is more or less a write off on the National Championship. But it will be great to get back in the car, see old friends and have some fun again. So George Plsek and I will be teaming up for the Rally Colorado two weekends from now.

2007-08-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a second to say thanks to all of my friends and family that called, instant messaged or emailed me this morning to make sure that I wasn't one of the unfortunate few that was involved in yesterday's terrible highway 35W bridge collapse.

I was on the highway about 2 miles from it at the time of the collapse. But luckily for me I was turning off of that highway and on my way down hwy 94E into St. Paul.

While I'm stunned and shocked at what happened yesterday, the little engineer in me has been working overtime trying to figure out the exact trigger that would cause a structure that large and that proven to give way at that exact moment. It is really strange that it would happen when there wasn't all that much traffic, and when there wasn't a large thermodynamic change happening.

While the Minneapolis downtown area is and will be in chaos for a long time. All of our heats go out to those families that are trying to deal with the loss of a loved one. Things will never be the same for any of us.

Link to CNN's video of the bridge collapse

2007-07-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

The Tour de France is like no other event in the World. It is heavily steeped in tradition and history. Obviously I've caught most of this years event due to my sudden re-attachment to the sport of cycling. But it's also due to my complete and total amazement at what these athletes can do. Screw the whole "doping" crap. These people are out there nearly killing themselves every day for almost a month. Most of us would shudder at the idea of having to Drive 2,200 miles. The idea of receiving the highly sought after honor of riding a bike over that distance, which happens to include several roads that go over numerous mountains, and through the heat of summer would likely kill most of us normal people.

Here are some more interesting records or stats from the history of the Tour.

One rider has won the Tour a record seven times: Lance Armstrong (USA) in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 (seven consecutive).

Four other riders have won the Tour five times: Jacques Anquetil (France) in 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964; Eddy Merckx (Belgium) in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974; Bernard Hinault (France) in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985; Miguel Indurain (Spain) in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 (the first to do five consecutive).

Three other riders have won the Tour three times: Philippe Thys (Belgium) in 1913, 1914, and 1920; Louison Bobet (France) in 1953, 1954, and 1955; Greg LeMond (USA) in 1986, 1989, and 1990.

Gino Bartali holds the record of longest time span between titles, having earned his first and last Tour victories 10 years apart (in 1938 and 1948).

Riders from France have won most Tours (36), followed by Belgium (18), United States (10), Italy (9), Spain (8), Luxembourg (4), Switzerland and the Netherlands (2 each) and Ireland, Denmark and Germany (1 each).

One rider has won the points competition a record six times:
Erik Zabel (Germany) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 (six consecutive years)

One rider has won the "King of the Mountains" a record seven times:
Richard Virenque (France) in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2004.

Two riders have won the "King of the Mountains" six times:
Federico Bahamontes (Spain) in 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964 Lucien Van Impe (Belgium) in 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983

One rider has won the "King of the Mountains", the points competition, and the Tour:
Eddy Merckx (Belgium) in 1969

Most number of stage wins in a single year: 8 by Charles Pelissier (1930), Eddy Merckx (1970, 1974) and Freddy Maertens (1976)

Most number of total stage wins: Eddy Merckx (34)

Most number of riders to have worn yellow jersey in one edition: 8 in 1958 and 1987

Most number of days in yellow jersey: 96 by Eddy Merckx (in 7 participations)

Most number of podiums: 8 - Raymond Poulidor (3 times 2nd, 5 times 3rd) in 14 participations between 1962 - 1976

Biggest winning margin since 1947: 28min 17sec (Fausto Coppi - Stan Ockers in 1952)

Smallest winning margin: 8 sec (Greg LeMond - Laurent Fignon in 1989)

Longest solo breakaway: 159.4 miles by Albert Bourlon in 1947

Biggest winning margin at the end of a stage: 22min 50sec for Jose Luis Viejo in 1976

Fastest prologue: 34.746 mph - Chris Boardman in 1994 over 4.54 miles

Fastest time trial: 34.367 mph - Greg LeMond in 1989 over 15.4 miles

Fastest average speed over a stage:31.723 mph - Mario Cipollini in 1999 over 122.5 miles

Fastest average over whole Tour: 26.242 mph - Lance Armstrong in 2005

Oldest winner: Firmin Lambot (36 years 4 months 9 days) in 1922

Youngest winner: Henri Cornet (19 years 11 months 20 days) in 1904

Most number of participations: 16 - Joop Zoetemelk, between 1970 - 1986 (no retirements)

2007-07-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

An interview with the Devil By David Katz
Embodiment of Evil, and Eternal Hell

God calls me Satan. But others have called me Angra Mainyu, Asmodai, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Belial, and Iblis. But I prefer Mephistopheles.

These days, a lot of people overestimate what they can actually get for their souls. To be frank, it's a buyer's market out there.

Now, I'm not gonna lie to you. Heaven is a pretty nice place. But all of that harp music crap just made me snap. First sit through an entire David Arquette movie, then you can talk to me about eternal suffering.

Travel tips for hell. I generally tell people to bring lots of bottled water, a good pair of sunglasses, and plenty of SPF 45. When you're in hell, you have a horrible eternal thirst that can never, ever be quenched — but a cold, crisp Heineken comes close.

I used to try to cover my horns with a hat. I look back at old pictures and it's like, what was I thinking?

Please, I don't even own that pitchfork anymore!

I see you're working on a Mac laptop. Myself, I'm a Windows guy, 100 percent.

Clean while you cook. I can't stress that enough.

Have you heard the expression "Hell is other people"? This is true, especially if the other people are French.

The most evil person ever? Hmmm. Good question, good question. How'd God answer that one? If you're just talking about the numbers, then of course, Hitler. But start looking at the intangibles and Courtney Love emerges as a real contender. If you think I'm bad, you should meet my publicity agent.

Christianity is all about tolerance and sharing and hugs. Then the devil worshipers show up, and it's like, "Check, please." I can't stand that kind of hypocrisy.

God's an easy man to love but a hard guy to live with.

At least down here you can still smoke in bars.

You spend millions of eons cultivating serious fear and loathing — really working on your craft, you know? Then some copywriter at Ogilvy thinks it would be real clever to use a little devil to sell his ass ointment. Poof! There goes your credibility. As an artist, that can be frustrating.

I'm not taking all the credit, but honestly, can you name a better party snack than the deviled egg?

I don't know if I'd use the term "role model," but yeah, Mike Eisner is someone I look up to.

With the number of publicists we have down here, you'd think we'd have a better image.

I don't care what he does next, I am not admitting Mike Tyson. That dude is twisted.

I hung a "WELCOME KEITH RICHARDS" banner down here every day for forty years. Eventually I just gave up.

When you're the devil, women instantly suspect your motives. Also, Asian restaurants assume you want everything "extra spicy."

Truthfully, I can't tell you exactly why it didn't work out between me and Christina Aguilera. I will say this, though: There's sinister, and then there's just plain dirty.

Seriously, though, what the hell is brimstone? Take it from a guy who spends a lot of time hovering around people's ears, waxy buildup is a huge problem.

You think you've got it all figured out and then Christian rock comes along and messes with the boundaries.

I wouldn't mind seeing Colin Farrell play me.

That whole "idle hands" thing really irks me. I mean, war, pestilence, reality television — that stuff doesn't just happen by itself.

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

2007-07-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

I think that a lot of people would define a great sports fan as a person that is so passionate about the sport that they love, that they simply don't care about what others think while they're at the event. But when you can take your passions for a sport to the level that others admire your compassion, which is my definition of a great sports fan.

In my opinion, there is only person that really exemplifies this example of passion for a sport. And that man is Didi "the Devil" Senft. The German born bicycling fanatic that travels around the world supporting the sport that he loves. His iconic image has transported Didi from Super Fan to a life of promotional appearance and Global notoriety.

Didi was an amateur racer that fell just short of making the then East German National team. With his natural passion for the sport he traveled around Europe being close to the people and the sport that he loved. Then in 1993 Didi put on his Devil custom, and then painted this pitch forks on the stage roads in the area that he will be patrolling that day.

Didi isn't there to terrorize the cycles as they go by, he reserves that for the promotional caravans that travel the stage roads in advance of the racers. But he always tries his best to support the efforts, always staying behind the riders, never in front and makes sure that he stays clear of their efforts.

His image in the cycling World is so universally understood that many now see Didi as the icon for the suffering and pain that professional cyclists put themselves through at every race. The dreaded Devil always waits for the racers at the most difficult section of a stage. Seeing the pitchforks that he has painted along the roadway causes what little hope the rider's had to sink. They now know that they're in the most difficult part of "Hell" for that day. Then he comes, the devil, fast on their heels, running after them, giving chase with his pitchfork held high into the sky, showing the riders that they only are suffering on their way through his Hell. The riders now have nothing but the hope for the ending of their suffering as he chases them until they clear his domain. What they escape to is never Heaven, but it isn't his Hell anymore.

Follow this link to read an interview with Didi by PezCycling News

2007-07-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

My recovery period from the Scooter accident has more or less come to an end. I'm now walking around pretty well, and the only pain that I'm still experiencing is in my right ankle. I'm not able to run yet, but I'm riding bike pretty well at this point. So hopefully this ankle pain is just a healing thing and I won't have any type of long term affect from 'the hit.'

Of course I've missed out on most of the U.S. Rally Championships, and this season is more or less a complete loss. You really can't get back the comfort level of being in the race car, only seat time can give that. So I'm trying to focus on other things to keep me going. Including my potential return to Cycling. Yes that's right... the old man is looking to get back in the saddle of the sport that really got him started in all of this competitive racing nonsense.

So after more then 22 years since my first competitive cycling event, I've decided that it's time to put those shoes back on and get back up on that saddle again. Of course my goals have changed dramatically since my younger days. Long gone are the days of chasing Dewey and Mike around the race course (congrats guys on your respective '05 '06 Minnesota Cat 1&2 rider of the year awards) with hopes of being able to pull out a sprint at the end against them.

I've already come to the understanding that I'll be dropped from the field almost instantly, but I'm returning to the sport for different reasons. I'm actually just looking to return to the sport and ride for a smaller local team and really just enjoy being back in the sport and being able to ride in the pack with old friends. Without really putting a lot of thought into it at this point, the long term goal would be to start working out with one of the smaller local teams and then looking for a place that I might fit in with them for a long term position. I've been considering taking the cycling coaching license from the US Cycling Federation, and helping to do some local young development coaching.

2007-07-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

The 32nd America's Cup was decided today, in one of the closest finishes in the history of the America's Cup. The final margin was the smallest measured unit in the sport, one second. The landlocked country of Switzerland, has successfully defeated the challenger nation of New Zealand 5 - 2 in Valencia Spain.

The New Zealander's syndicate started working on their challenge of the Swiss team almost 4 years ago. With twelve other teams all competing against each other in the Louis Vittion Cup, and earning the right to be known as the Challenger against the Swiss Defenders.

The Italian Team of Prada, Luna Rossa who defeated the strongly favored American team BMW Oracle. Later went on to fall to the New Zealands in the Finals of Defender's Cup.

But this is the time for the Swiss to stand up and be proud as a nation that clearly out designed the other teams. Now, as a member of an exclusive club of Nationals that both took the Cup, they have also Defended it. Only the United States and New Zealand have done the same.

The purposed date of the next America's Cup challenge has not been released. But the formal challenge has been sent and accepted already!! Yes, just hours after the Cup was secured by the Swiss a new challenge has been submitted.

2007-05-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

I'm back from my check up with my doctor. Things look and sound pretty good and he likes the progress I've made so far.

The area we looked closely at the bones in the middle foot; the Cuboid, Cuneiforms, and the Navicular (for you doctor types out there) on both feet. This is the area that is still giving me trouble. The X rays showed a lot of scaring of the bones in these areas, but nothing that would require a cast or surgery or anything like that. Most of what we saw was likely due to past injuries I've suffered over the years. We saw nothing that looked like a fresh unhealed fracture or break that wasn't already on the mend. Which is really great news!

Otherwise I got some blood work done (again) to check for blood clouting related to the muscle bruising and the weird masses left from it. I'm waiting on the results from the lab. So I decided to look up what these tests are and what they are looking for;

Blood tests related to heavy muscle damage may include: prothrombin time (PT), or INR, and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) which are tests of blood clotting. fibrinogen and other blood clotting factor levels, to check for bleeding disorders. a complete blood count (CBC), to check for abnormal white blood cells or platelets

So the good news is I've officially been told to get my ass back in shape given that I've lost a far amount of muscle tissue due to trauma in both legs. I'm not allowed to put large loads on my ankles or feet for obvious reasons. So the only cardio work I'm allowed to do are things such as riding a bike or using one of those elliptical trainer thingies. Otherwise I'm allowed to hit the weights again. Sadly, running is out of the question for at least a month.

2007-05-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

The semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup began this morning in Valencia Spain. This is a "first to five wins" direct match racing. The four teams remaining in the contest for the right to challenge the America's Cup holding Swiss team are; Italy vs U.S.A. and Spain vs New Zealand. New Zealand come in as the slight favorites with the American Team is in very close second.

I always cheer for the underdogs in these type of contests. So I'm cheering for the Prada backed syndicate of Luna Rossa. (Italy)

Match 1 – Luna Rossa Challenge beats BMW ORACLE Racing

In the pre-start it looked as though Luna Rossa might be able to close BMW ORACLE Racing out above the Race Committee boat, but Chris Dickson and his afterguard had factored in some current sweeping across the start line. The American boat slotted in nicely next to the boat with Luna Rossa just to the left.

After sailing locked together for many minutes, which seemed very sensible with the wildly shifting offshore breeze, the Italians and Americans broke away to opposite sides of the course. Luna Rossa tactician Torben Grael found the better breeze to the left and the Italians rounded 52 seconds ahead.

Around the top mark, USA 98 picked up a beautiful puff of breeze and surged down the right-hand side of the course. The Italians meanwhile had already gybed off to the centre of the course and were wallowing by comparison. Dickson recouped a 400 metre deficit to put Luna Rossa helmsman James Spithill under pressure at the leeward gate, Dickson initiating an aggressive luffing match.

Spithill did just enough to claim the left-hand gate mark while the Americans peeled away to the right, just 7 seconds back. Again both boats gambled with their respective sides of the course and again the Italians’ faith in the left paid off as they leapt to another 400-metre lead.

This time the Italians did a better job of shadowing the Americans down the final run, and even when the breeze shifted nearly 180-degrees just before the finish, Luna Rossa capitalised on the changeable conditions and stretched the winning margin to over two minutes at the finish.

Match 2 – Emirates Team New Zealand beat Desafío Español 2007

If the Italians and Americans were playing their match fast and loose, Emirates Team New Zealand took no such chances. Dean Barker won the right-hand end of the start and it wasn’t long before the Kiwis had established a small lead over Desafío Español 2007. After winning the lead from the right, Barker dragged the match to the left-hand layline and led Karol Jablonski to the first mark by 1:03.

However, with the Kiwis sailing very defensively they yielded some of that lead to round the left-hand leeward mark by just 41 seconds. The Spanish brought the match even closer up the final windward leg, rounding 30 seconds behind at the final turning mark.

As new breeze filled in across the course, and the teams were forced to douse spinnakers in favour of jibs for some close reaching to the finish, the Kiwis extended away to win by 43 seconds at the finish.

2007-05-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Nice weather here, means that I'm thinking more and more about sailing again. So I thought I would post up a few photos from years past.

2007-05-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

Well, sometimes in life, you have to take the bad with the good, and this week has been unusually tough for me. I was attending an intensive training course for a Cisco certification that I've been pursuing for some time now, and on Tuesday night after I got home from class I decided to go out for a little scooter ride around the neighborhood so that I could calm down a bit after a long day of class.

So I did a couple laps around Calhoun, Lake of the Isles and Harriet. I then started to get a little hungry and cold, so it was time to go find a little take-out place on my way home.

Unfortunately I would never make it to the restaurant. While traveling south on Hennepin Avenue from lake of the Isles, I came to a stop at the red light on 25th. As always I looked down to check my mirrors on the car behind me, I got to watch a 2 inch wide horror show unfold. Like in the movies I was only able to get out "ohhh s..." before the car hit me from behind.

I was very very luck, as my injuries could have been way worse then what they are. I have been able to escape with what seems like minor injuries for the impact I took. I have some pretty messed up ankles, and some very serious bruises on my legs, back and shoulders. But no broken bones, no head trauma, nothing long term or serious. So I'm amazingly lucky.

The scooter... well that is another story. I haven't actually seen it yet since the ambulance guys put me in a neck restraint and I never was able to get a look at it. But from the noise and how that thing is built, I have to assume that it isn't going to make it. Poor thing.

Anyhow, so dear reader, now that I'm okay, I'm sort of up and about (with crutches and on heavy meds) and I'm looking forward to doing some physical therapy and getting back into life again real soon.

Lesson learnt this week; "It doesn't matter how careful and cautious you are, if the guy behind you isn't watching what they are doing."

2007-04-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to get around to publishing the photos I had promised from My trip to San Diego with Sheila last month.

2007-04-24T16:08:00.000-05:00

Recently I've had a few of my friends ask me questions about why I got myself involved in Olympic style pistol competition. And to be honest I've had to sit and think about this for a while before I could really put it into words. So instead of answering this question several more times, since I know several of my friends out there are still questioning my thought process, I figured I would post a little something about it.

First off, let's talk about the image that most people have when you talk about pistols. My guess is that most of you out there are imaging a bunch of good old boys types with massive "Dirty Harry hand cannons" sitting around firing their guns off at random things to see them "dun blow'n up real good." This image couldn't be further from the truth. For this type of competition we use a highly modified 22 caliber pistol that looks more like a science project that a weapon of mass destruction. Then there is the skill involved. The targets are set at 25 yards for indoor competition and at 50 Meters or 164 feet for outdoor. Yeah, that is a long ways away when the target is only a total of 8 inches across and the bulls-eye mark is the size of a dime.

Secondly, this is a sport (yeah I know, but in the context that bowling and golf are sports) that requires skills that are completely the opposite of everything that I've worked on in my past. Pistol competition requires absolute patients and complete stillness of your body. Were as everything else I've done is about quicker, stronger, and faster. So this really is a complete change of thought process and discipline for me.

A standard National match consists of 5 different sections. The first two are called "slow fire" and feature the eight inch target at 25 yards. You have 20 rounds that you fire in a 20 minute time frame for the first section. During the second section there are 10 rounds in 10 minutes. These two are the more difficult of the matches for me. These sections required a serious amount of patients and self control. The next three sections are all what are called Rapid Fire, and they all utilize a 16 inch target. Easier to hit, yes, but the problem is you have a time limit to fire all 5 rounds for that period in either 10 or 20 seconds. Oh did I mention that all of this is done one handed?!?

Currently I'm working with a .22 caliber long rifle pistol produced by Ruger, a Mark III competition edition. I've added a custom grip to the pistol so that it can accommodate my hand more comfortably and I've also added a V shaped compensator to reduce the recoil action of a shot so that I can better perform during the rapid fire section of a match.

2007-04-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Some of my favorite TatoMotorsports U.S. Rally Team photos from last season.

2007-04-05T14:10:00.000-05:00

It is that glorious time that sailors from around the world perk up and all turn their eyes towards one spot on the globe. This time it is towards Valencia for the preparations of the next America's Cup Challenge.

For those that are not up to speed on the selection and defending process of the challenge, here is a very brief overview of what's currently going on.

Right now we are on Act 13 of the per competition. This is the last "Act" or series of racing prior to the formal start of Louis Vuitton Challengers Cup Competition.

During the Acts, all teams openly compete with each other. Challengers and Defenders. Once this open competition is completed, the Challengers go off into there own waters and compete against each other for the Louis Vuttion Cup and the right to Challenge the Defending Team.

Right now in the standings have the Defending Team, Société Nautique de Genève of Switzerland and the Cup Defenders are in a slight lead over the Challenging Teams of; BMW Oracle Racing (USA) Emirates Team (New Zealand) Desafio (Spain) +39 CHALLENGE (Italy) and Luna Rossa (Italy)

Italy has the highest number of National entries at three, while China and Russia have entered their first boats in Cup History. Surprisingly, the United States has only one boat entered for this Cup Challenge. Which I and many others consider rather surprising given our history of owning the Cup for nearly a hundred years.

Right now, the Swiss Defending Team is looking extremely strong, and the all of the Challengers really need to step up their games if they think the Cup is going to leave the first land locked nation to ever hold the Cup.

Go to http://www.americascup.com/en for standings and details

2007-03-28T14:14:00.000-05:00

It is with a very heavy heart and a sad dispossession that I'm here today to inform everyone that our neighborhood's favorite wine shop has gone out of business. Napa Jack's Wine Store has closed up for good last Saturday.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk to Dennis Youngquist, Napa Jack's founder and owner. Dennis was absolutely heart broken, and as everyone was going through his store, buying up anything that wasn't bolted to the floor, Dennis was appologizing for not being able to continue on in the heighborhood. He told me that funding issues with an investor was the ultimate demise of the shop. Sadly, Dennis was extremely distraught about his shop having to close after only about a Seven month run. As was just about everyone that was visiting his store that night.

Napa Jack's had become a very well know location even thought it was only in business for a few short months. The staff, location and the overall style of the store was excellent. And it is absolutely my hope and desire that Dennis will be able to turn this one time set back around and that he will be able to find a new business partner and my his vision of the perfect wine shop a success. Because I know, that this one was right there, and I can't wait to see what he can do with a second chance.

2007-03-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, it is easy to tell when it is spring time in the Midwest. People start walking around with injuries that happened during the weekend. Yeah, that is my way of easing into an intoduction for this post. I, like the gentleman pictured took a ride over the top of my mountain bike bars this weekend and landed on my face.

No real serious injuries occurred. I just have a badly bruised ego, and my right right is pretty messed up. Otherwise I'm the same old idiot I've always been.

But this will be slowing my down from a lot of other things I had planned for this week. Including my match pistol league, testing the new 2007 KTM 950 Adventure S and the BMW F650 Dakar motorcycles and well, just being able to do day to day stuff. Sigh. Yeah I know, I basically deserved it.

2007-03-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well it has been some time since I last posted a message to everyone. Really sorry about that. Sometimes life just knows how to bury you with things, and keep you buried. But now that I've starting to shovel my way out, I'm going to try to post more things for everyone.

So I think it is time to get everyone up to date on what is going on.

Firstly, I just returned from a trip to La Jolla California with my girlfriend Sheila. I'll post up a bunch of photos once I get them moved over from my digital camera.

The weather here in Minneapolis is starting to come around, and we are looking at temperatures in the 60's this weekend. Which means it is time to get out the two wheeled vehicles and start running around on them. The scooter is primed and ready to go, and I'm heading into the shop later this week to start looking at either a KTM 950 Adventure or a BMW F650 Dakar motorcycle for this summer. More on that later. I had ordered a F650 from BMW last year, but that fell apart when the shipping company from Germany decided to not ship it. Oh well.

Rally season has been rolling for some time now, sadly, we haven't had a chance to get to a race yet. George and I are looking at doing a race this weekend in Blythe California. While this is just a regional event, it remains up in the air as to whether or not we will be contesting it due to a lack of competition. Yes, I would be leaving less then 24 hours, and I still don't know if I'm leaving yet. This is the world of racing.

Otherwise, things are moving along well here. I'm currently on a project for Accenture, a consulting firm that is working on the Best Buy engagement. Same thing, different location. But there are some good people here.

2007-01-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

New photos of my Nephew Bryan... Cute isn't he?

2006-11-28T12:08:00.000-06:00

A cool new photo just came in from our race in Maine this summer. This one is an instant classic in my book. It really shows the type of speed we found this year.

Photo by Neil McDaid

2006-11-16T13:12:00.000-06:00

The return from a rally is always the most difficult for me it seems. This time was no different. The Laughlin International Rally operated out of the Ramada Express Casino and Hotel as usual. But this year I was able to score a Sun Country flight into Laughlin, instead of having to drive the hour plus down from Las Vegas.

George did a great job of driving this year. But due to some unavoidable circumstances, we ended up finishing in third place over all. While the win was ours for the taking, a fellow competitor had some problems and as those problems took them down the leader board, they took us with them in the form of dust on a heavy night stage. Such is Rally.

So we finished with our second podium in a row at this event, and that was also our second podium finish of the year. I think that is pretty good given the leave of competition this season.

Just one more quick comment about Rally before the season is officially over for our team.

George has come an amazingly long way in the last 18 months. It all started when Lauchlin O'Sullivan spent a couple minutes in the car with George at the Oregon Forest Rally. He quickly learn about brake controls and how to better conserve their reliability. Since then, we have really been focusing on holding our high end speed. 100 Acre Woods Rally was the first, then Prescott Rally, and now the Laughlin rally all had some really high speed sections. And he did a great job of keeping his foot in it and holding our momentum. Good job this season George, it was a real honor to be able to co-drive for you.

2006 Laughlin International Rally - Final Results

1 Todd Moberly / Raymond Moberly - 1:52:16
2 Wyeth Gubelmann / Cindy Krolikowski - 1:52:45
3 George Plsek / Jeff Burmeister 1:52:48
4 Wolfgang Hoeck / Piers O'Hanlon - 1:53:51
5 Seamus Burke / Christine Beavis - 1:54:26
6 Nathan Conley / Brandye Monks - 2:04:08
7 Jimmy Keeney / Melissa Salas -2:06:40
8 Larry Gross / Doug Young - 2:16:16
9 Craig Studnicky / Jeff Hagan - 2:17:24
10 Bruce Davis / Jimmy Brandt - 2:20:05

2006-10-03T15:04:00.000-05:00

It's another great day outside, so I'm off to do some scootering and general lounging around the city of Minneapolis! See you all out on the road.

2006-08-29T14:13:00.000-05:00

Everyone has a list of things that they would like to do before they can't move around anymore. Here is mine;

Go skydiving
Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
Climb Mt. Everest
Go to Japan and eat Fugu
Learn to paint a landscape like Van Gogh
Visit the New York Public Library
See Michelangelo’s David
Watch the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
Visit Paris and ride a scooter through the streets at night
Enjoy New York City at Christmas time
Sip tea in a traditional tea garden
Walk the Great Wall of China
See the Ruins of Pompeii
Celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico
Eat a meal with a World-Class Master Chef
Tour a Vineyard and help make a good bottle of wine
Stay at one of the world’s fanciest five-star hotel
See Stonehenge
Visit Machu Picchu
Visit the mysterious Blue Grotto in Capri
Swim in the Blue Lagoon
Witness the Thaipusam Festival in Singapore
See the southern sky in Antarctica
Help dig for Dinosaur bones
Visit the Amazon Rainforest
Float along the Nile
See the Sunrise from Maui’s Mt. Haleakala
Ride a stage of the Tour de France
Drink a Mint Julep at the Kentucky Derby
Go to a Formula 1 Race
Climb Mount Olympus
Watch the Sumo wrestling in Japan
Take a train ride on the Orient Express
Go on a Safari
Swim with Sharks
Run with the Bulls in Pamplona
Go Whale Watching (failed the first time)
Visit Africa’s Serengeti Plains
Fly in a private jet
Ride my motorcycle to Tierra del Fuego and back