Cardinal Harbour Aquabike

Participated in the Cardinal Harbour Aquabike (1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike) in Louisville, KY. Originally signed up for the full triathlon, but was recovering from a foot injury and thought it best to hold off on the run.

The 2010 MFer ("Mostly Flat") 300 mile ride

On Saturday, June 19th, I completed the 3rd annual MFer, a one-day, ultra-distance bike ride through southern Illinois. This year we rode 300 miles in about 22 hours from Columbia, IL to Cairo, IL and back. Finishing the 300 mile route with me were two other riders: Colin Peeler (who completed the 250 mile route last year) and Stephanie McCreary.

Erin Wahl, Vanessa McKenzie, Dennis Regelsperger, Annette Koob and Brent Newman finished the 200 mile route this year - which ran from Columbia down to Grand Tower and back.

The group getting ready to roll out at 5am. Photo credit Phil Shoulberg.

Aaron Fanetti, Stephanie McCreary and Colin Peeler after completing the 2010 MFer.

Ironman 70.3 Kansas

Completed Ironman 70.3 Kansas this past weekend. Weather was great - I, however, just wasn't feeling it. About 20 minutes slower than last year. Ouch.

Iditarod Trail Invitational 2010

Completed the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational on bike earlier this week with Vanessa McKenzie and nearly 50 other athletes from around the world. Starting a week before the famous Iditarod dog-sled race, the ITI follows the Iditarod Trail across the Alaska Range from Knik Lake to the village of McGrath.

Temperatures ranged from around 30F at race start to -40F near the end.

Finished the journey in 9 days - much slower than expected, but much too fast in retrospect. An incredibly difficult yet truly wonderful adventure. No prizes, except a T-shirt and the knowledge you completed one of the toughest ultra races on the planet.







More pictures here

Hennepin Canal Parkway Trail

Spent the weekend camping and riding on the Hennepin Canal Trail over in Sheffield, IL. The flat 104.5 mile trail parallels the Hennepin Canal through north central Illinois. We had a clear sky and nice temps in the upper 20s. Snow and ice covered most of the trail, but it was easy to maneuver barring a couple unexpected slick spots.

Didn't arrive at the campsite on the first night until about 1:30am. Hit the trail at about 8am on Saturday and got an easy-paced 70 miles in. One spare tube and two flats left me walking the last 20 miles though. With a loaded bike I only managed to keep going at ~3 mph. It made for a long, lonely 6.5 hour push. I figured it was good training - though mind-numbingly boring. I did however manage to memorize my ABCs backwards among other things. Eventually arrived at camp about 1am... and slept like a rock.

Winter Bike Training in Alaska

Spent last week up in Alaska with Bill and Kathi Merchant from Alaska Ultrasport attending their winter bike training camp. The camp was a great learning experience and gave me a chance to test out my gear for the big race in March.

We arrived in Anchorage on Christmas day and spent the first couple of days doing last minute gear updates and renting our Surly Pugs from Arctic Cycles.

The next 5 days we spent near Flathorn Lake riding sections of the Iditarod trail, learning about the bikes and how to keep yourself warm in the icy Alaskan temps.

Riding the Iditarod Trail in Alaska

Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run

Ran the in the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run yesterday. The race is a rather vertical 7.5 mile trail run at Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, IL.

Also known as "No Wimps, No Whiners", the race follows a a series of craggy, eroded, muddy, leaf-covered, root-laden and icy trails - which can demand some artful footwork to traverse. I saw more than a few scraped and bloodied body parts, as well as a few ambulance rides this year, which is apparently not an uncommon sight.

I managed to finish unscathed in 1h 7m 41s. 10th in my age group (30-34). My good friend Al Beers took 1st in his division. Nice work Al!

Castlewood 8-Hour Adventure Race

Participated in the Castlewood 8-Hour Adventure Race again this year. A rather chilly start on Saturday, somewhere in the 20s. I forgot to blow the water out of my CamelBak tube early in the race and it froze solid, which was a small problem. Things thawed out by mid-morning though.

Ran in the 2-Person Male division, with my teammate Clayton Cummings, against 42 other teams. Finished in 5h:56m, which was just enough to grab 3rd place in the division.