86 Flights. 1576 Steps. No Elevator. No Problem.

Pretty amazing guy I met today. Double prosthetics at the knees, Dwayne Fernandes. In the womens race, it didn't start out too smoothly for everyone. At the start, somewhere within the first 5 flights, there was a crash where the first place woman (Suzi Walsham) hit her head, face down on the stair or wall. I was in front of what was happening, so I am not sure what exactly happened. Suzi passed me somewhere after 20. I just kept it right around tempo and finished in 16min. Daniel didn't feel at his best, and came in at 12:22. Good enough to win the over 40, but well short of the time he was hoping for. Maybe the Koko Dome steps in Oahu were still in his legs.Daniel with Italian dude.1-3rd place.
Women's results
The two meanest looking guys, D, and the guy in dead center (Dold, the eventual winner) were 1-2 into the stairwell. It's not unlike cyclocross where you have to go faster at the start than you'd otherwise like in pursuit of position. Still, second into the stairwell for D was a recipe for going out too fast. And too fast a start in a stair climb is difficult to recover from. Chock it up to experience and use the wisdom next year.
On another note, Tracy Moore, a fire captain from Mpls Fire won the grand prize of $10,000 in the Tabasco Cooking Contest yesterday right here in NYC! She won with her Chocolate Lava Cake. Congrats to her. Look, she even has her fire helmet all the way from Mpls, station #5!
Up next, IDS stair climb Saturday.

Stair Climbing Workout

Warning, these pictures will probably be sickening to some. I feel kinda bad for putting them up since we're in summer wear and most of my friends/fam are back in Minnesota all hunkered down in their fleece and cuddlewear. We're lucky to be in Hawaii with my parents and their friend Tomoe...Oahu last week and now Kauai for the week to come. In getting ready for the Empire State Building Run Up next week, we've been finding some daunting stairs to climb. Here are some shots of the Haiku Stairs/Stairway to Heaven. The most amazing set of stairs I've ever been on...3900+ steps that snake their way up the spine of a sizeable mountain. Sure death falls readily available on either side, the kind of exposure that would make anyone remotely troubled with heights turn back almost immediately. Many sections are literally straight up--a ladder actually. You have to work to get there though. The stairs have been closed to the public for the last 5 years and you need to sneak in under cover of pre-dawn darkness to avoid the guard that arrives at 6am (they'll definitely stop your efforts to enter, but don't seem to mess with you when you exit). Below is a pic the injuries we sustained scaling a barbed wire fence by cell phone light.3900+ steps, nearly 3 times the Empire State Building.

2 Airforce guys we met along the way.
A far away view of the first part of the stair case.
This is about 1/3 of the way up.
You can see how the stairs are on the spine of the mountain.
Took a total of 40minutes, it was a good lung burning workout, but truth is, we didn't hit it that hard cause the danger of falling argued against going too far into the red. We saved the full-on red line for the Koko Dome stairs--basically the railroad ties of a tram track that once was pulled straight up the steep side of this former volcano. Climbing hard, D completed it in 9:45, so it's close to the Empire State in duration. The descent is a tough one and leaves you sore. Wish we had a Koko Dome staircase in MN...maybe Buck Hill could come up with a junior version.

Flanders Party at Zipps Liquor

Thanks to Joel at Zipps Liquor for hosting our Flanders Calender party. He provided beer that was named Flanders. He also cleverly looked at the 2009 Tour de France map and picked out a few wines that corresponded to some of the highlighted stages. The wine and cheese and chocolates were flyin and it seemed like people were having a good time on a cold wintery -20 below night. Thanks to those who braved the weather and showed up to support us. Also a thanks to Sprinter Dave and Daniel for helping out. Paula and Teresa~ we missed you but knew that you're have a great time in Arizona, you were with us in spirit.
Dano, Zim, Woell

Thanks to Jim and Scott Flanders for supporting our bike team.

Janette, Sara, and Margo

We missed you Lunatic(Ray)!

Thanks for showing up Todd Butcher. And you too Jared and Frye.

Adrian, Alex, Jack Stack.

Rich, Bob and another biker fanatic.

Bob Williams.

Woell, Schoofs, Engler( a big player in making the calender), and Lind(nice to finally meet you)

Margo and Eric

Climbing the IDS to fight Cystic Fibrosis...WE NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE!!!

Visit here to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's IDS Climb for a Cure. More info below.

My bike still sits on the hooks in the garage. The off season is a cushy place to be doing the things I've not been able to do like movie marathons and reading books. The book I'm into now is called "Omnivores Dilemma" by Pollan. Check it. Too bad we can't download it into every human being's brain...would make for a much more enlightened matrix.

The other thing that's been going on, and isn't so cushy, is training in the stairwell at the government center. We're chasing peak form for the Empire State Building Run-up on 2/3 (unofficial world stair climb championships) and the IDS Climb for a Cure to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on 2/7. The IDS climb is especially near and dear to us because it's for an important cause and we really believe in the CF Foundation. This will be our fifth year leading the Mpls Fire climb team against a growing number of public safety team challengers. Ten other teams will try to dethrone us this year (Mpls Fire has won five years in a row). Though we thump the Mpls Police pretty handily when it comes to climbing, we're embarassed to say they've consistently out-fundraised us for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation . This year we have a lofty (though doable...we will have more than 30 firefighters climbing) team goal of $10,000. Every little bit counts, so we're asking for your tax deductible support. If you want to donate to the CFF in our names please do so online. Click here to donate in my name, or here to donate in Daniel's name (it all goes into the same final Mpls Fire team pot). Thanks so much for your support.

Here's a pic of Daniel with the double watch action. One for heart rate and the other for interval splits. Once up the government center is 47% of the IDS. Go try a few flights right now, it'll give you a good rush, and, if you over-cook it, suck the blood from your quads and marrow from your femurs. One of the nice things about training at the govn't center is that we can take the tunnel system from where we're parked. Here's a pic of D snuggling up to Zeuz at City Hall.

Also, I'm ready to take orders for the Flanders calenders. Email me at Linda_Sone@hotmail.com. Thanks for your support!

Calender Release Party: Jan 15th Zipps Liquor

Please support the Flander's Women in an Upcoming Season of Fun and Join Us for the Party!!

2009 Calender Release Party
Hosted by Zipps Liquor
Date: Jan 15th

6:30-8:30pm
Wine and Beer tasting
Come get your calender autographed.

The Women of Flanders Calender's are filled with colorful photos of the women on and off the bike, race wins, careers, motivations, and tips on having fun and riding fast.

Your $20 contribution will go towards supporting the teams 2009 Racing Goals.
A limited supply of calenders will be available at:

• FLANDERS BROS CYCLE, 2707 Lyndale Ave. S (MTWF 10-6, TH 10-8, Sat 10-5:30)
• At the Zipps Liquor Party
  
• email me Linda_Sone at hotmail.com to get one mailed (shipping extra)
  

I want to recognize Kevin Engler, Zuni Sturla, and Shiela Eldred for helping us in getting this calender made.

Back Home

The season is really finally over. Super Rookie during my race said, "This one is the last of the year, just GGGoOOOo!" Haahhaa I needed that. Suffering indeed I was, the grass was sucking up both my wheels and my legs. The fans were really supportive out there-Crossniacs Peter ran up the hill next to me every lap, now how awesome is that!? I'd like to thank everyone that was out there cheering, the Ridley coaching/management crew--Paul, Dag, Thor--for setting up the warm-up tent, providing me wheels, moral support, tons of wisdom and know-how, and Daniel for getting my bikes ready and being in the pit for me. My successes are due to the people supporting me and the racers I'm up against every weekend. I am left feeling very thankful of you all.
It's time for taste testing all the Christmas cookies out there and drinking lattes.
It's been fun, Cross is the best!

Here's Ned. Hope i'm still out there when I'm 50.



John-here's one of your boy. You're in our thoughts.

I'll be back next week reporting, this time from the stairwell. It's that time of year again for some stair climbing. The schedule in early February involves the Empire State and IDS stair competition. Let me know if you're interested in some lung/quad burning workouts. Good times.

Thanks Nate Swanberg for the pic. Hey Ray- it was like a summer day, short sleeve all the way like you say. The Midwest contingent represented well. CJ Faulkner 5th, Nate 50th(or so), Diane Ostenso national champion, Linda Cooper 5th, David Block 25th, Nils top half, Rebecca Wellons Ridley-7th, Corey Coogan 15th, me 7th, Kristen Wentworth 5th, Anna Young 2nd, Kaitlen Anntinou 3rd, Jordan Cullen 3rd, Tina Raeshler top half, Paul McKinney 10th (riding out of his gourd against a power packed field), Greg Goblirish broken chain 1st lap then fighting back for position, Jared Roy 10th, Dan Meyer 7th, Dave Meyer 7th ...sorry if I missed anyone.

We all go to great lengths to prepare for this so you fight for a good result. But even if a good result isn't what you get, it's more important to savor the process of preparing, to enjoy the entire experience, the cleaning and recleaning of mud off your bike, the packing and repacking of the vehicle, the unforeseeable mechanical difficulties, all the sweet like-driven people I'm happy to call friends, the many miles of driving as bookends...it's all part of the way that racing bikes enhances living, lends that exquisite focus to the day-to-day? Race on Sunday and that's it for the season. Bjorn, Dave, and Ali Goulet from Ridley are racing tomorrow. It'll be awesome spectating.

KSCX Nationals Course 08

Not quite Corcoran moto CX but these little bumps get your heartrate going.
Nice dirt pile is in the middle of the course after the second set of quadruple uphill barriers.
Top most part of the up hill ascent.
Downhill 180 after uphill quadruple barrier.
Finally, a downhill.

How to behave when the snow makes biking abysmal

More time to eat, drink, and be merry...this time at Cafe Ena. Jim F. cuddling up to chocolate flan.

One of these two above was crashing the party. I'll be nice and not out him here. Tuna tartare appetizer.
Paula was, sadly, absent but cleverly arranged for a bottle of wine to stand in for her. It was fabuloso. Happy faces. Thanks Paula!

Ridley Factory Team's Paartayy

The Time Cup is making it's round. From my house to the Rock Bottom, onward to the house of Paul Schoening. Thanks to Paul S, Paul Thor, Dag, and the team for another great year-it's been a fun one. Front:Joe, me, Corey, Mike, Dave. Back: Dag, Paul, Paul, Bjorn
Towering Sweet! Mike and Corey