Jarrett Moore on pinkbike.com

Atlas Cranks still killing it for me.

The lead out at the Crystal Lake Classic in Rhinelander Wisconsin is a sandy road for about a mile into a holeshot of single-track.  With a call up I just made sure to stay up front and save everything for the holeshot.  I jumped for the holeshot a bit early but the pace was so chill I figured if I ramped up the speed enough no one would come through.   I hit it pretty hard I guess because everyone I read and talked to said the pace went crazy right there. 

Leading a WORS race is a bit intimidating at times, especially early in the year with as much talent as had showed up to Rhinelander, so I didn't work too hard as to go into the red and be counter attacked by someone. After a few sections of single-track I looked back and seven had made the initial break, Me, B. Matter, Tristan, B. Eppen, Mike Anderson, Tyler Gauthier, and Ben Koenig. I punched it up every climb to keep anyone from just sitting on and made sure to use the single track skills to make em work, even though I did lay it down once while leading...

By the end of the lap it was just me, B. Matter, and Tristan.  On the flat road sections we fed and took it somewhat easy, knowing this course is hard on ya and a race of attrition in many ways.  2nd lap we started trading the lead a bit, but I did a lot of work. 

3rd lap Matter went to the front going into the single track with a blazing pace. I held on and Tristan slowly disappeared. 

Brian gave a nudge of the elbow to come through in between some single-track sections and I was like "no way man, your killing me".  He got me to work the road section on the last lap though and we started seeing a lot of lap traffic.  Going into the single-track Matter took over and did almost the exact thing as lap 3.  I was fine till a bobble and a lapped rider formed a very small gap going into a climb about half-way through the lap , Matter gunned the climb and I could not close it .  His advantage grew to about 50 seconds at the finish, so he was flying!  2nd on the day is an awesome result though, shows that my goal of contending for the overall is not out of reach. Maybe next time I will play it a bit smarter on workload and be more aggressive when I am feeling good, this is a good confidence builder for that kind of stuff.

My favorite thing about this picture has nothing to do with the podium.  Man that just wins my heart, when ya show love to what I love most!

Here is a little post race interview with a cameo by Asa.

Thanks for Reading,

Nathan

Photo/Video Credit: Dave Reich, Amy Dykema, John Senkerik, Connor Mccoll, Kelli Piotrowski, Claire Cannon

Stoked to find an old shot from California, USA.

In the spirit of Wheel & Sprocket/ Vision’s mission to build  “A New Generation For Cycling”, tonight we hosted our first Monday night mountain bike group ride and started in house with Asa (6 yrs old) here completing her first five mile off-road loop, climbs and all, as well as climbing to the tower at Lapham Peak. 

We also had some High School youth, Parker and Connor Mccoll, on hand learning how to do Lactate tolerance reps with their Dad.  Another goal of of Vision, to get whole families involved in the sport of Mountain Biking together.  Since our Series, WORS, hosts weekend long events for the whole family to participate in from Beginners to Pros, only makes sense to develop the next generation in this same way.  Perfect chill off-road ride in the park for everyone, from first timers in mountain biking to the serious racer in need of recovery after the weekend, all are welcome.

Monday nights, Lapham Peak, 5:30 meet-up and orientation if needed, riding from 6 pm till whenever.  Might start having some grill-out/food afterward if weather is nice and we coordinate for it well.  Email me to get on group ride update list, nathanguerra@hotmail.com , or just show up and have fun.

Raceface testing resumes. Testing 1…2…3…dropping!!!

Hi Everyone! As you probably know, the artist formally known as Raceface is back! New ownership, same killer gear! I felt lost not having RF around. I didn’t know what to put on my bike…other than more Raceface stuff. ha ha Luckily, we can all breath easy and go for a ride, using our favorite RF parts, thinking about nothing but…the ride! I have sexy black Atlas components on my Rocky Flatline that makes my inner bike nerd smile! I’m riding everyday, coaching kids for Escape Adventures a couple days a week for now, coaching for Camp of Champions all July (except for 1 week of hosting Crankworx), and announcing mtb races on the weekend! Loving every minute of it! Whew! Welcome back RACEFACE! Let’s give ‘er!

As was recently announced in worldwide press release, Race Face Performance Products is proudly back in business with a new ownership group, armed with same commitment to producing high quality Mountain bike gear that Race Face is famous for. We are stoked to keep relatively the same operation as before, with many key employees coming back – including our design engineers. The machine shop will be fired up again soon, as we will be proud to continue producing many of our market leading Race Face products right here in Canada.
During this complicated re-launch of the brand we do ask for some patience from our loyal customers, retailers, and distributors. There are many challenges for us to tackle at this time but we will work through it all shortly and will be not only providing world class riding gear again; but also the customer service and support that Race Face has always been known for.
We are all very excited to get Race Face up and running again, all your kind words of encouragement and support since the relaunch announcement have touched us deeply. Thanks for your continued loyalty and support – Long live RaceFace!!

It was a somber and confusing time in the Tippie household.  We had a whole year of projects lined up and ready to go, and then on the 11th of March (which coincided with my big 4-0 birthday party), the curtain came crashing down on our beloved Raceface.

But the tide has turned, we are absolutely over the moon regarding the new ownership, and I’m just keeping this on the up and up, the positive and the upcoming season!

Here’s a picture of my blinging Rocky Mountain Flatline WC complete with Atlas Freeride Cranks, Stealth Bars and stem.  Presented to me by none other than Mr. Tippie himself (after a striptease clad in his 1990′s National team skinsuit from his World Cup Snowboarding days!) and fellow Fro, Wade Simmons!

Quick edit: Forgot to put a picture of the podium in the video, ended up 7th, for my  goals it is a throw away result and take the 5 points toward series overall, but those are needed too, not too bad for  having a flat and some asthma issues.  Congrats to Tristan, he did an awesome right up after the race that can be found here.

The week after this race was the start of my hardest training period yet this year.  Gun Show Tuesday was insane!  Ask around, anyone I talk to says it’s the fastest show in town. Check it OUT!   Wednesday I rode to the trails and happened to see and ride with a few of these fine people!  Thursday was suppose to be endurance, but when the legs feel good during a intensity build you don’t waste it, ended up throwing down almost test numbers on the power meter on the last half of my ride.    Friday was a nice recovery ride home after doing some of this at the Muir Trails.

Saturday I got this crazy idea in my head to ride down to the Muskego crits for a little extra time on the bike, some intensity, and to save on gas.  Did the Cat 3 and P/1/2/3 races.  So I saw personal best numbers from that ride both in the endurance category and in the supra max category, somewhere around the 1 minute range.  30 minutes total in supra max and like an hour at or above Threshold total, good day of training.  Total time on bike was like 5 hrs 53 mins and 120.1 miles.  All I had the entire time was Powerbar of course, man that stuff works!  Good nutrition mixed with a great Base in place after this winter has me feeling good all the way to the end of these rides.

Speaking of Nutrition, maybe you noticed the new Sponsors in the videos and linked on the blog here.  One Sponsor I am extremely happy and blessed to announce is Standard Process.  They Provide amazing Organic Whole Food Supplements and they also supply a line of Herbal Products.  On top of this they are a local company, and just happen to have their whole company based just down the road from the Southern Kettle Moraine unit in Palmyra, WI.  Huge Organic Farm, R & D, Distribution, Business office, the whole works right in our Mountain Biking back yard.  Just got my first batch on Monday! 

They been around since 1929, so they know their stuff, and I am so glad to be working with them to try and get the best results possible.

To end the week (training weeks end on Sundays for me) Lindsay and I are going to the trails for a long date day/mothers day ride and dinner.  Great way to cap off an amazing week of training.  Oh yea, and no more asthma so far, hope things keep getting better as I work with the Doc. 

Last thing, Quick Shout out to my man Danny Kaukola.

Hope to see ya soon or maybe house a roadie for ya? And I am having a ton of fun at these crits…although getting on a team may enhance my results, but I think this way is better training…

Thanks for reading!

Nathan

Figure people would want to know who is this Team Wheel & Sprocket/Vision Don was announcing this past weekend and kept handing us all that free stuff in the Venue space? 

Look for these new team kits at Rhinelander (fingers crossed on production time….).  If somehow you have not heard of  our title sponsor here is where you can find Wheel and Sprocket.  Vision is an extremely ambitious non-profit Organization I have started to make Cycling a household sport in our culture.  Website launch is coming soon and you can read the rest of our mission below these pretty pictures to whom all credit goes to Brianna Dederich, Super totally awesome kowabunga (and any other adjectives) to work with her!  Good friend of ours for years and if you need a graphic artist I highly recommend her.

 

This sweet logo really personifies everything Vision is about.  Huge thanks to my Brother-in-law Emery Ullenberg, also highly recommended for all your graphic related needs.

Vision is a non-profit Organization. Our Mission is to make cycling a functional household sport, in order that people and their environment may benefit from the well-being cycling provides. We start with local communities and grow influence into the County, State, Regional, and eventually the National level.

Our Vision is implemented through 4 Values.

Youth Development-Think Highschool and Middle school Mountian bike leagues

New Cycling Infrastructure

Public Health and Wellness:

Energy and Environmental Sustainability

I will save the rest for our website launch, but you get the idea.

Thanks for reading, see you at Rhinelander!