Thanksgiving Week Re-wind

I never thought the day would come… but I found myself, once again, atop a mountain bike. Every Saturday, come hell or high-water, the Sheboygan-ites head out for the breakfast ride; a 3 hour mountain bike group ride the goes from roads, to the single track, to the beach (they actually do a rotating paceline across the frozen sand!) I borrowed a 29-er Gary Fisher from my buddy Brian, put on all the cycling clothes (and a couple additional fleece sweaters for good measure) and joined them for an epic day. I found I still had some skills on the trails, but having 29 inch wheels let me pretty much monster truck over all the roots and other obstacles in my path, it made me wish I had been on one of these beauties back when I was racing mountain! Check out a sweet video of the training ride from my buddy Dano, Here.

Me and Elicia getting ready to brave the elements...

Lest my Masi get jealous, I left the off-road guys and headed out for some solo time with the old roadie to do some specific leg speed sprints to keep Bjoern happy. A great week of training, just in time for the weather to go to absolute crap and hammer the Midwest with a nice coat of snow. I just got back home for my last week of regular classes, ready to tie up some loose ends and start finals! (OK, ok… I keep talking about this, but it’s exciting!)

These people are crazy... but who would have known, you can paceline on a frozen beach!

After 3.5 hours of solid riding, then a big turkey dinner it takes two wild animals to wake me up from my nap...

Big Timin'

http://www.wthr.com/Global/SearchResults.asp?vendor=wss&qu=cycling

--Click on the link that says "Marian College Cycling Center."

Wow what a cool opportunity this was for the team! Indianapolis news station WTHR, Channel 13, came by Monday morning to highlight the uses of our training center on campus, so we obliged them with a good show: a team time trial between the Zipp factory team and the Marian College Knights. Being an intern under Coach Peterson in the training center I was the interviewee and explained what was happening on live TV! The Zipp guys set a course record of 23:47 that will be the time standard to beat in the future, while next door Mallory ran a spin class with the women’s soccer team. It was a big success and already positive feedback is coming in from all over campus as people saw us on the news. Thanks WTHR for hanging out with us on a rainy Monday morning! I’m in Wisconsin already for thanksgiving break and unfortunately the snows have hit… they are melting well enough that training will be possible, but require more than a few cups of coffee for courage. Have a great holiday everyone…

home stretch

After a little bout with a sore throat I am healthy again and back on the bike. I am looking at it as one of those “blessings in disguise” you seem to hear so much about. It allowed me to tie up a lot of loose ends before graduation (I have officially 4 days of class left!) and it will push my fitness forward a little later in the season, no reason to be Mr. February hammerhead.

I got a few really solid training days this weekend with team mates, it was great not having to turn the Ipod on to make myself unaware of the bleak weather, just cruising along and chatting. Saturday I took out the TT bike to keep the body adjusted to the position and doing a few short strength intervals while I was at it. Sunday was a good sized group including my new Kenda team mate Jake Rytlewski and a handful of Marian College fellas. We went south into the Martinsville area and put some good efforts in over the notoriously steep hills. Here we are during snack time:

I’m heading up to Sheboygan for thanksgiving; hopefully the weather stays reasonable enough to continue training steadily. It seems like every time I get 4 consecutive days of good training in something comes up that keeps me from continuing. Sore throats, loads of homework, freezing rain… take your pick!

We just finished the first week of spin classes and they were a big hit. Most of the classes filled up and we had to turn people away. Maybe next semester we’ll have to offer more times. The metal class was sweet, I think I need to tone down the playlist just a little, ease em into the hard stuff. I got one or two weird looks for sure as some of the more heavy tunes came up, I suppose you just can’t account for taste.

Victory!

Not a lot to report on my own comings and goings, spent a great weekend in Madison doing a little snow riding, checking out the new Indiana Jones and charging up the mental batteries before the final push here at Marian...


With nothing much going on with me, I will take a moment to brag about one of the guys I am coaching, Fred "Wild Irish" Rose. If you get a chance check out the new section to my website, BVDG Coaching. Fred has been in battle all cross season with one of the Lousiville veterans for the overall title in his age group and for the first time soloed away for the victory! Fred has been really busting his ass in training and its paying off now as he is doing some good resting and short high intensity stuff to brush off the final touches on his fitness. Check out this victory salute photo!

I couldnt be happier for the guy, especially because I know the dedication he puts in even with a full time job. Keep your eyes peeled at the midwest cross scene for more of this fist pounding fury. And if your interested in recieving coaching, drop me a line, bennetvandergenugten@hotmail.com. I am looking to work with 2-3 athletes in addition to the current fleet.

I've been starting to feel pretty good on the bike, more and more comfortable past 3.5 hours, starting to see really good body composition changes that come from not drinking beer and racing kilos... I got my first, "dude your arms look tiny" comment, which means things are most definately heading in the right direction, especially if you take a look at the recently released USAC Pro Tour Calendar! (ok I just figured out how to make hyper links, your going to have to deal with a little excessive use for a bit.) It looks like Kenda will be doing all but the Tour of California... a really excellent descision in my opinion, with most of our guys living in snowbound states.

Spin classes started today - Dave Williams had a full house of students and professors rocking out to some Dave Matthews band and Chilli Peppers I think... Can't wait to do mine this wednesday and thursday! The magnum opus, if you will, is thursdays metal mania... wednesday is going to feature all three types of music, HOUSE -DANCE - UND TRANCE!

Laying Low

The last week has been pretty taxing, not training at all has left me with plenty of time to get ahead on school work, but being on penicillin to keep infection away after the tooth removal has made me feel like absolute crap. Not being able to eat solid food, however, has led me to new heights in the culinary arts. Above is a photo of me cracking into a pumpkin that became "pumpkin bisque soup." Pretty sweet. Problem is it was some sort of state fair winning pumpkin and I have enough soup to feed an army.

Ummmmm fiber!

I got the all clear to ride and went for a little spin today and felt as though I hadnt taken any time off at all, so I take that as a good sign. This weekend will be used to get moving again on building the base miles in the company of the marian crew. We also put together the schedule for spin classes at the cycling center on campus, which I am really excited about! It has sort of become my baby, and I am trying to create some good energy and enthusiasm for people to come to the classes. It started as a bit of a hair-brained scheme but I will be running a class thats totally devoted to heavy metal... its a nice combination of two passions of mine, riding hard and rockin out!

That, as well as a core strengthening class for my collegiate team mates and an indoor computrainer group ride with cyclists from around the community will be part of an internship that I do under head coach Dean Peterson.

Thats about it for me, once the announcement comes out officially for the spin classes I will post the link, Dean and I worked together and put together a pretty cool "meet your spin instructors" page that highlights the personalities that drive the spin classes.

Man or beast?

I finally uploaded some old photos from the past month at the Louisville GP cross race. I was doing some serious investigative journalism on the “ape-man”. He was sweet, he was interacting all over the course as though he was NOT dressed as an ape with a pink shirt on, and everyone at the race seemed not to notice him either. He just sort of cruised around as though nothing was different about today, no antics, no screaming, just moderate spectating in an ape-suit, as though he might also do this at little league games.

Here is the apeman at a distance, walking at a distance. He has one of his spawn with him.

Here is the apeman NOT being photographed by the professional photographer. Maybe he hoped if he didnt notice him he would not be beaten.

I'll keep my eyes out in the future for this creature. In the meantime, the beat goes on and school has me in a vice-like grip. This is whats known as "hammer-time" on college campuses, just before thanksgiving break and then finals where the mountains of work ahead of you see unsurmountable, so maybe being off the bike a little while is a blessing in disguise. I got the all clear to train again from the dentist, but after 45 minutes my gums were pulsing and throbbing and I said, no way, not ready yet. So its back to ovaltine shakes and homework. PS This is getting old and I'm STARVING!

beatlejuice, Beatlejuice, BEATLEJUICE!

Here's the new hotness... our 2009 racing kit:

I've been told that I look like Beatlejuice when wearing pinstrips, hence the title, but 1. I dont care if I look like Mickey Mouse this jersey is sweet! and 2. Beatlejuice was an awesome movie anyway.
I am hanging out in Bloomington at my mom's house for the weekend, I had my wisdom teeth removed friday so I am laid up drinking smoothies for a few days. Really not as severe an operation as I had anticipated. It seems like beforehand everyone you talk to is an expert, and I dont mean this in a condescending or judging way at all, but the inner doctor comes out when you bring up wisdom teeth removal. It goes like this,
"hmm, wisdom teeth, are yours impacted? Have they grown in? Are they doing both sides at once? Make sure to ask for drug X, my sister/brother/cousin/self had that done and was MESSED UP for a week- have fun bleeding..."
Its touching that so many people will take the time to share their expirience with you, but all that buildup left me pretty well shook up before I went in. It turned out to be very low key, its still sort of aggressive with all the yanking and the dentists opposing hand holding your head down, but your so numb you don't really mind.
I get the stitches out soon and I hope to be back to riding in a few days. Sorry no pictures of the gore, or of me with a huge puffy face, no swelling at all!

Lots of updates on the team website, check us out! www.kendaprocycling.com