its christmass

call me the Grinch but i hate christmass. i blame working retail for this, after one whole fucking month of bitchy coustmers, and shitty christmass music, the holiday when it rolls around means nothing to me.

so what have i done with my christmass? i slept 11hrs, and have been on the roof all morning shoveling snow and drinking beer. it doesn't get much better than that in my opinion.

2011 Calander

here is a rough glimpse at the 2011 season

4/30-5/1 Balls Ride.170miles of gravel in 2 days
the following weekend is graduation, however if i can squeeze in the sandwich 50 part duce i will
5/14 Alamonzo 100 or Royal 162. same time same place. one is a gravel century, the other is a standard plus metric century. Looks like im going to man up, log some miles this winter and make my first alamonzo a royal one.
7/30-7/31 Waussau 24 part duce, awesome course, thinking 2person, maybe solo

all summer: various MNMTB Series races depending on health and aviabliity. i will for sure make it Afton
all summer: various WEMS races

Fall 11: Night Nonsense Part Duce, date TBD

watch gravel grinder news for more dates

winter commuting

i have two rigs set up for commuting this winter. I plan on primarly riding my trek with 50x20 gearing, fenders, and 28c tires. i wish i could squeeze a 32c cross tire in there, but there is just not the clearance. i also am rocking flat pedals on this bike. its comfy, quick, and i have no issues climbing hills on this setup.

my other ride is my bianci muss. i have it set up with 32x18 and kenda klondike 2.1 carbide studded tires, and flat pedals. it is great when the roads are crap. the 32x18 works really well when we have snow on the ground. but is way too spinny the rest of the time.

i got layering figured out last winter. thick socks, leather boots, silk long underwear, a wool shit and a wind breaker. medium weight ski gloves, balaclava and a helmet round it out.  this set up keeps me surprisingly warm. on really cold days i will just  throw on a layer or two more of the good base stuff.

people tell me that im crazy for riding all winter. they just cant seem to understand it. for me, its a sanity issues. i am a very active person. if i do not get the chance to get regular exercise. i get mopey and moody. because of my hectic schedule between school and work. commuting is my only option. when i ride some were. and its cold, snowing, wet, slick, and dangerous. i get were im going, and feel on top of the world. for all you Minnesotans that bitch about the cold. get the fuck out of my state.

El Mar or Xcal?

i have my search narrowed. i will either be getting a new salsa el marichi 2x10 or the new trek xcal 3x10. both come with rebas, large wheels, x7 shifting, and hydraulics. im currently sold on the elmar. steel. single speed capable. but at the same time more expensive. ill have to weight my choices and figure out costs. both seem to have similar geometrys.

	Fisher Xcal	Salsa Elmar	specialized stumpy comp
Size	17.5	18	19
Head Angle	69.3	72	70.5
Seat Angle	72.5	73	73
ETT	23.7	23.6	23.2
Chainstay	17.5	17.5-18.1	16.9
Wheel base	43.9	42.5	43.1
Standover	30.1	30.3	31.9
MSRP	$1,539.99	$1,750	$1,850
Build	X7 3x10	X7 2X10	X7 3X10
Fork	Reba	Reba	reba
Brakes	juicy 3	Elixr 5	Elixr R
R.Der	X7	X9	X9
Chainring	44/32/22	27/40	44/32/22
cassette	11 36	12 36	11 36
Tubeless	no	yes	yes
single capable	no	yes	yes

blog change

the last 5 years of my life ive been studying automotive engineering technologies at MSU. it is a really good program, and while i appreciate what cars can do for you. bikes give me a purpose. when im on my bicycle, everything slows down. there is no rush to be anywhere. i can do what i want, go were i want, and generally feel free. that is why ive changed my blog title from slave pit escape to tim rides bike. because that is what i do. every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow, i ride my bike, because i can.

Night nonsense 100

last night i raced in the inaugural night nonsense 100 (93.7 actually) we started in the rain and hammered out 93.7 miles of gravel, mud, and the occasional paved section. my light died three miles into the race. i pushed on, found some riders to stick with. fought through back and stomach pain. took second place, just seconds behind Robert fry. i had a great time. it is on the calendar for next year.

drew very generously let me borrow his mamasita with cross tires. the bike performed impeccably, and now i have the 29er itch. two really good recaps of the event can be found at

Ride On Purpose

and

Guitar Ted

i dont know what it is, but there is something overly satisfying about gravel.

kato cat

won sunday nights alley cat. was a good time. officially finished at 49 min, but got an incorrect stop. was still able to win with an over all time of 52. pat kelly was 35 seconds behind me, he also screwed up the same stop. so know i get to host one! cant put out too many details other than a costume will be required, and that it is on halloween.

the last minnesota race of the season is on saturday. i really want to go but am scheduled to work, i also need the money. im really looking foward to the night nonsense. i started the season with a super fun endurance race, and will be ending it with a super fun endurance race.

i've been getting the 29er bug. really want to get a new bike, all i know is that i have no money and that im getting lost in geometry's. just cant quite figure out what i want...

school

school started last week. havent been riding much, started running again and i feel much healither. i need to get back on a riding schedule though, doing the night nonsense 100 with drew in late october. should be a lot of fun. this weekend im headed out to eastern wi for a weekend with the family, gonna bring the mtb and do some riding, running, and in general relaxing.  but for now im off to class to start working on my senior design, 3 wheel commuter vehicle.

All City Championships 5

i raced in the 5th All City Alley Cat on Saturday. had a great time, rode with Dawn from Atlanta and Sam from mpls. Sam came in at 14th, was with him the whole time but screwed up two stops and had to double back. Highlights included averaging 28mph down lake street for the Cross Town Hustle, cramping, drinking tons of good beer and logging a 50mile day. total mileage for the alley cat was around 40. i was also the official out of town winner, but didn't get the prize. Wes from Atlanta got it, which is cool cause he came from Atlanta. Click here for more info on the All City Championships.


 Manifesting. from left to right we have me, dave, sam, and mike

burnt out

ever since the wausau 24 ive felt like a total piece of crap. haven't had a good ride in a while. allergies are kicking my butt, and i just don't have the energy to ride. this sucks...

racing in review

this past weekend i raced on a four man team in the Wausau 24hr mtb race. the course was rough, rocky, and brutal. i loved it. of all the races i have done, this has been my favorite. while i enjoy doing the shorter length minnesota mountain bike series races, i always feel like ive not been challenged enough in the races. my plan for the next year is to start focusing on more endurance events. i plan to enter in more 6, 12, and 24 hour events, with maybe a scattering of a few mnmtb races in there.

60

rode 60miles this morning, bonked hard and had a rough ride, still managed to hold down a 20mph average pace though, so not too bad for a solo ride with a ton of wind. i plan on taking it easy this week, will maybe get out for a short jaunt on wed, but other wise im gonna rest and get ready for the 24hrs of Wassau this weekend. im looking forward to the race, should have a great team.

CAMPY!!!

Hung out with Krunklak last night and got the campy hook up. Veloce 10spd rear derailleur. American Classic 10spd cassette, campy spaced, but shimano splined. now i just need the 10spd guts for my Chorus shifter, chain, and the GSR will be good to go.

In other news, i almost lost my eye Sunday night at murphy. doctor said that had the injury been 1/16 of an inch higher and id have a glass eye. the crash really put things into perspective for me. don't get me wrong, im still gonna get back on the bike, with a few minor modifications. i keep telling my self to cut my bars shorter. well its gonna happen finally. had they been shorter, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. the other thing is that i am no longer going to ride alone. its just stupid. seems like the only time people ever get hurt on their bikes, is when they are by them selves. in the mean time, enjoy a photo of me shortly after getting 4 stitches to hold my lower eye lid together.

Dans GSR lives Again.

So a while back Dan hooked me up with a GSR Zucherro road frame set with some campy stuff on it. my plan was to hold out and save up some money to get it running but i couldn't wait. this bike is the total bastard child of all road bikes. campy cranks and bottom bracket, campy front brake, campy left shifter, campy front derailleur shimano, yup thats right SHIMANO, right shifter, shimano rear derailleur, cassette, and chain. shimano rear wheel, bontrager front wheel. and some various cockpit components. sadly i have no photos. i inaugurated the bike tonight with a 60 mile road ride. i feel great after wards, some thing i couldn't say about my old frame that was too big for me and set up as 1x9.

Long Time no Updates

wow, its been a while since ive posted an update. well to start things off ive had 3 mnmtb races come and go. i made it to two of them and missed the third due to a road trip. race one of three was at Afton. i got there super anxious and killed it. had the race of my life and took another victory. race two of three was at mount DuLac in duluth. it was a shit show, the mud was calf deep and i ran the majority of the race due to a jammed freehub body. still took 3rd in class. yesterday was race three of three, i was driving back from portland and missed it, i checked the results, none of the people i was worried about attended the race, so im still in the points leading for my class.

Speaking of Portland, i just spent a week in the pacific northwest. after a two day drive i arrived in olympia washington, got to hang out on the skygazer ranch with good friends, and animals. got to go mountain biking on real mountains, climbed and descended capital peak on a borrowed single speed.. chilled at the ocean, and drank a bunch of good beer. on the whole olympia was increadibley relaxing and fun.

Portland was stressful. i didnt know my way around the town, there were a ton of cars, and cyclists everywhere. in Portland we went to a bunch of cafes, drank dollar pbr's and had dollar twenty five vegan corn dogs. saw a bunch of art and waterfalls, and got dumped for the 6th time by the same person. had two awkward days with her, then started being a complete ass whole to her. at that time we both started to enjoy each other again. moral of the story, girls are fucking confusing.

If your first your not last!

Yesterday i had the opportunity to take part in the first Mn Mtb Series race of 2010. leaving my moms place in Plymouth the weather was looking bad. when i got to Salem hills is was sprinkling. that sprinkling quickly turned into a thunder and lightning storm. the sport class race was delayed and hour and a half, and they ran a short lap to take less time. this is one time im glad to be a comp rider. the sport rides had a hell of a race as i saw many torn derailleurs and other mechanical s due to the mud.

by the time my race started at 2:30 as opposed to 1:15 the sun came out and it got hot! we raced full laps instead of sports reduced length, however we raced 3 laps instead of 4. this year the series decided to run all single speeders in the first wave. this was awesome. for once i was able to get a good start and race my race instead of getting stuck behind the slower geared riders. Aaron Peterson and i played cat and mouse for the first two laps. on the 3rd lap i caught and dropped him. he finished 33.4 seconds behind me taking second place in comp single speed. that means i took 1st!

Butt Hill Thursdays

after years of vowing to never race at Butt Hill ever again when i completed my high school slalom days i went back on thrusday and took apart of the 1st 2010 Butt Hill thursday night mtb race put on by penncycle.

the race was an absolute shit show, it was muddy, sloppy, and absolutely amazing. i took 28th out of a field of 62 men. not too bad, i felt as if i could have gone faster, but i constantly got stuck behind riders with poor bike handling skills, or people with the inability to clear technical climbs. i finished in a time of 59.01 and apparently my name is now Wentz instead of Werts, but oh well guess you cant set you hopes too high for the Penn Boys to get shit right...

click me for results

after the race i met Joshua Collins of the singular race team, and got to geek out about his Singualr Gryphon drop bar specific 29er. the bike was awesome. fit me incredibly well, and the lever position with the drop bars was nice and low, something hard to get on a 29er. i loved it and i need one.

Sandwich 50 recap

This past weekend i drove out to Rochester for a few days of racing riding and getting dirty. i stayed and raced with drew wilson. I got to Rochester late saturday night. i had hopes of being able to ride the course on Saturday, so i could learn the course and select a proper gear ratio for my single speed. However i could not get work off, so after a long day of work, i headed to Rochester. Saturday night we hung out in the garage and got our bikes and nutrition prepped for Sunday. Sunday morning we made a quick trip over to Perkins for some potato pancakes then headed over to Eastwood. The race enviroment was very relaxed when we showed up. Racers where hanging out and joking with each other. I knew it was going to be a good day.

Shortly after we arrived the race kicked off with a Le-mans Start to the Bicycles, then it was a quick prolog before heading into the single track. I had a very good first lap, the course was quite wet, however i was having no issues getting traction, and my 32x18 gear selection turned out to be perfect for the trail. racers settled into pace quite quickly, and i found my self riding at a very managable pace. i turned out a 44 min first lap. It was about a mile into my second lap that things went down hill for me, as i was just riding along, my front brake pads fell out of my caliper. i did a second 44 min lap with just a rear brake. the going was tough, and down hills were slow and frustrating. but i was able to complete the lap in good time. i got back to the base area and asked if anyone had any pads. no one did. turns out drew had some in his truck but i didnt find out till after the fact. i proceded to move my rear caliper to the front of my bike and rode another 4 laps with just my front brake.

The going was tough but it was managable with just a front brake, however i quickly became fatigued as i lost almost all of my hand strength in my left hand. managing just a front brake for 36 miles wears you out quickly. Thankfully Ron was camped out half way and kept me going with positive encouragement, bacon, and Hams Special Premium beer. i truly could not have done it with our rons kind words and positive attitude. he really kept me going. the beginning of my 6th lap i got my second wind after bonking hard during laps 4 and 5. i picked up the pace and didnt even stop for beer or bacon as i was feeling great. with about a half lap to go, i snapped my chain powering up a climb. i felt completely broken at this point. i was ready to give up. i walked back to camp and was told that if i fixed it i could go back to the point of the mechanical and resume my lap. it was at this point that some other racer kindly offered my his jamis full suspension to complete the race on. i finished almost dead last. But i felt awesome. i had never ridden a length like this before. 50 miles in 6hrs and 15 min. not too shabby for my first race of the season. i was awarded a wonderful prize of the Soppranos Box Set on VHS, sadly i left it in rochester with drew.

after a few hours of rest Drew and i rode down town for a few beers. we ended up logging a 60 mile day. on Monday Luke Boenish came over from mankato and we rode Stagecoach, Luke killed the downhill on his Kona, and i had the worst ride of my life. physically i felt great, but i had no strenght or energy, simple tasks like poping up and over downed logs were killilng me. i quickly became frustrated and fatigued. i crashed harder and more often in the recovery ride than i did during the race.i got to the point were i gave up on biking, i couldnt do it anymore. In all it was about a 70 mile weekend for me. by far the most i have every ridden off road in such a short time period. after a few days of recovery my body is still on the fritz, im still not as stong as i was. but i know now what i need to do to complete a race of that lenght. Im really looking forward to the Minnesota mountain bike series this summer. after this weekend i know that the Minnesota races will be a breeze both physically and mentally for me.

If your not first. your last.

last night Krolak hosted the second Key City Alley Cat of 2010. this one being a mystery cat. i came in second place with Melissa due to what we would like to call "team work" ended up riding 20miles in about 75min. climbed Main Street Hill twice while looking for the East Main and Manitou stop. ended up saying fuck it as guessed the answer got it right. any way how it worked was there where stops at

N. Division and Mulberry
May Ave and 6th street
Poplar and D street
Garfield and Cornelia street
9th and Tile.

at each of these locations there was a poster with a new intersection posted. we had to record the intersection on our manifest then ride to that location and write down the roman numeral and the symbol. we never did find the manitou location but because it was our last stop and the roman numeral 3 was the only missing number we guessed that, and Melissa decided to guess a circle for the other symbol. we got it correct. so while we did come in second (yours truly back 12min) and third (Melissa) we still came in last. because like Ricky Bobbys father once said "If your not first, your last"

Never Stop Peddling

had a decent week of riding. went grocery shopping by bike on Tuesday. really makes me want to get a nice rack and pannier set. riding home with the messenger bag full of food kinda really sucks. it just destroys the back and neck. that said shopping by bike is one of the most satisfying things i have done in a while. on Wednesday i went out to seven mile. took the banshee as the bianchi is out of commission until i can afford a new bb, headset, and stem. any way rode about 16miles in just under an hour. so i was really pleased with my effort although the ride completly sucked and wasnt much fun. on thursday i rode the ss roadie 22 miles in 1hr 12min, sprinted to a max of 29.3 mph and still had plenty of energy left to go faster, just was gear limited with my 50x20 gearing. yesterday, did a ride out to the dam store with some friends to get pie. was a super chill ride, but still logged a 20mile day between the ride and commuting around town. today im taking the day off and working, then tomorrow i have ultimate frisbee sections in maple plain, so i will have nice fresh legs for a killer tournament. then maybe hitting up murphy on monday. any takers?

DIRT!

got my first dirt ride in for 2010 yesterday at 7mile. ive been on the bike all winter commuting and in general riding everywhere. and i still felt out of shape. maybe its that im just not use to the geometry of the banshee, or maybe its the 170mm crankarms? still had a good ride. just need to get new rear brake pads.

mankato freeride

mankato freeride from Tim Werts on Vimeo.

epic day

what an epic day. rode my first alley cat today to a 3rd place finish that im crazy stoked on, then got to hang out and drink beers and grill burgers with a bunch of really good people. and i did the race in the new single speed commuter bike. trek pilot 1.0 frame, 50t 105 cranks, 20t surly rear cog, mismatched wheel set and all sorts of other random parts, unfortunately i dont have a current photo of the rig, but i do have one from last Monday when i geeked out and threw my buddies cross wheelset on it. enjoy.

Life Saver

For those of you that don't know on December 30 2006 my father David passed away after a 20 month battle with brain cancer. at this point in my life i was drinking heavily, using drugs, leading a very sedentary and directionless life. During the few months after his death i went from a already overweight 205 pounds to 245 pounds, things sucked and i was really down on life. then i wok up one day put on my running shoes and took off. Since then ive run twin cities marathon twice, competed in numerous mountain biking events, and have dropped 75 pounds to my current 170. what ive learned in this time is that exercise is a life saver. it has given me direction in my life, when things are down, i can get on my bike, or go for a run, and push all my frustrations and anger into my pace. the more upset i am, the harder and faster i can go for. at the end i am physically drained, but emotionally rejuvenated. 

Bouldering at Midwest Mountaineering

drove up to the cities this morning did a little bit of bouldering at Midwest Mountaineering, then caught up with some friends at Stubs and Herbs for some brews. heres a little taste of todays action.

let downs

just when things are for once going right in my life. people continue to let me down. as a kid i always struggled to make friends. maybe its because i was always a little awkward as a child, or maybe its because ive always valued the importance of a true relationship over simple friendship, because of this i don't have many friends. However the people that  i have in my life are solid dependable people that i let into my life, because ive taken the time to determine if i really want them apart of my life. this winter i took a gamble and let someone in very close to me, and let myself be very close with them in a very short period of time. in this period of time i feel that i developed a relationship with another person that would have other wise taken months to develop. things were great till they decided that they would rather be a friend, than foster a relationship. the question i know struggle with is wither or not i can let my self be their friend, because when it comes to friendship i would rather be 100 percent in and have few dependable people close to me, or nothing at all. i feel as if i have let myself down, by letting something so great, develop in such a short time.

Ride

For years ive looked forward to winter. i grew up in a skiing. yup not a hockey player, i grew up a skier. every fall i would look forward to those frigid winter evenings at hyland were i could ski, ski, ski. for as much as i love skiing, and winter. im totally ready for spring so i can start hammering out some miles. in may im doing the sandwich 50 enduro over in Rochester. this will be my longest race ever. im really looking forward to it. ive been running alot this winter, and have done a decent job at staying in shape. however if i want to do respectably well in this race, i need to get on the bike soon. on Wednesday i am going to put the fatties on the single speed and get some gravel miles in. just cant decide if i want to run 32x16, or 32x14 with 2.35 wide tires.


in other news i found this photo on morc yesterday. totally sums up how i feel. 

1st

drunken bike ride of the new year. a little dissipointed it took me this long.but what ever free pizza, 2 dollar pbrawrs and stylebitters at the sugar room made it worth while. plus riding home in the fresh snow is always a ton of fun.

Dear MSU

Dear Physics Department,

Maybe if you pulled your heads out of your own asses, you could breathe a little. try it.

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes

so time for a quiver update.

to start off the Banshee got new cranks thanks to drew. rocking some Race Face Atlas Cranks with 24x36 and an E.13 bashguard. also installed a lower shift guide and picked up a sram x7 front shifter from luke. anyone have a 31.8 clamp top pull front deraliur lying around . lx or highter quality please.

also got some new parts for the Pilot Build
picked up some tiagra shifters from drew along with a saddle and post. from mike i got fenders, Bontrager race front wheel and a seat post collar. also possibly getting a rear der, and handle bars from mike. i salvaged a rear wheel from work and im getting cranks from john, so all i need is a fork, cassette and chain to be in business.

asides from throwing a surly 22t on the bianchi for the hillside race that got canceled the bike remains the same.

school and such

wow, ive been a bad poster. a lot has happened since my last post. where to start... well had an angry phone call with my mom and hucked my phone at the wall. that ended as you can presume it did. $200 later i have learned a valuable life lesson. find something else to huck when speaking with mom. my new skis came in and they fucking rock. they have a lot of energy and are really responsive. school started. im taking 14 credits. i have Physics, Statics, Fluid Power, into to music, and aerobic conditioning to help keep the GPA up. and i got a new bike! Trek Pilot 1.0 road frame for a dollar. now i just need to build it up...