Iceman Cometh

Participated in the 20th annual Iceman mountain bike race up in Traverse City, MI this weekend. My first MTB race. I had been warned that it can be freezing, but we had really nice weather this year - upper 50s. I finished in 6th place out of 65 riders in my group. Finished in 2h 23m 31s.

Winter Training with Peoria Bicycle Club

Started winter training with the Peoria Bicycle Club today. They have a great indoor multi-rider CompuTrainer training facility setup at Proctor Hospital in Peoria, IL.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra - Opening Weekend

Attended the SLSO performance of Mahler's 5th Symphony on Friday night to kick-off the new season.

Ironman Wisconsin 2009

Completed Ironman Wisconsin this Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin. A full iron-distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. Couldn't have asked for better weather. Finished in 12h 13m.

Mt. Rainer National Park

While in Washington spent a day playing at Mt. Rainier National Park after the Mt. Baker climb. The hike up to Tolmie Peak is gorgeous. I felt like I was walking around in a postcard.



More pictures on my Flickr account.

Climbing Mt. Baker

Finished my first mountaineering trip last weekend up in Seattle. Did a 3-day climb up Mt. Baker with Alpine Ascents International. Physically demanding, but mostly a lot of fun - and really beautiful. My neck and back were little sore since it had been a while since I last shouldered a backpack for 6+ hours a day - and the double plastic boots and crampons took some getting used to. I'm looking forward to doing another trip soon.


During our summit attempt.


At the summit with our guide. The wind was intense.

More picture on my Flickr account.

Whirlpool Ironman 70.3 Steelhead

Ran in Ironman 70.3 Steelhead up in Benton Harbor, Michigan on Saturday. The swim in Lake Michigan was fun. Finished in 5h 11m.

The 250 MFer (mostly flat)

On Saturday I completed The MFer, a one-day, self-supported, 250 mile bike ride through southwest IL. Starting at 5:30am, we rode from Columbia, IL down the levee road and Route 3 to East Cape Girardeau, IL - and back.

We had great weather for most of the day, until about 9pm when we encountered severe lightening and thunderstorms. We all agreed it was probably not a good idea to be the sitting atop the tallest metal object in a cornfield, so we ducked into the bar in Prarie du Rocher and waited for the storm to pass. We finished the final 40 miles arriving back in Columbia around midnight. It was tough, but fun. Looking forward to doing it again next year... or maybe the "Son of MFer" this winter. :-)

More pictures from the MFer on my flickr account.


The three finishers, Colin, me and Dennis, at the half way point (125 miles).