It may only been 10.1 miles, but the modified course at the Kirke Vei TT in Cottage Grove is a nasty little course compared to what I remembered.

This is the second year in a row this short, but technical, TT course has been modified due to road construction in the area. This year the signature “wall” right before the end was missing, but the course still had plenty of suffering to dish out.

What makes the course sorta tough is there seem to be very few places where you can find a nice rhythm. You’re either climbing slight inclines, turning, or descending on this bugger. There are no terrible climbs, but it’s just enough that you rarely get the chance to settle into a grove.

I finished in just over 26 minutes for an average speed right around 23 mph, slower than I had hoped (before I remembered all the ups and downs and curvy turning) and a time I’m still happy with.

Crossing the finish line

Julie was just about a minute behind me, but her time was good enough to finish 3rd behind super-TT-woman Joan Carlson and Masters National Criterium (in her age group) Champion Diane Ostenso. So needless to say she had a pretty good day and rode well. She was happy with her result.

Julie rolls off the start line (after dropping her chain twice in line)

It was debut of her new skinsuit, and she looked pretty good despite the unforgiving nature of the garment (Note: I did not get one for the sake of other participants and my own self respect!). So, new wheels, a skinsuit, now all we need is to get her an actual TT bike. Maybe this off season.

Chris Mueller and I have started a competition for our own TT title this season. Going into Saturday I had a 2:39 advantage, but he cut that by 1:02 (despite shifting issues). So we still have two TTs this season to decide the winner. I'm still up by 1:37, but the course this weekend will give him a good shot to really cut into that lead.

The end of the road season is getting closer, I think we still have six events between now and the end of Sept., but THE END IS NEAR. It always looks so far away at the start of April.

Speaking of events, the team is hosting our annual TT Saturday just outside of Hudson, so if you you're looking for something to do come on out: http://bigringflyers.bravehost.com/tt2009.html

Mike Buelter is the center of our "photo of the week"

(As promised, J returns with another blog this week...)

So we have acquired an unofficial mascot.

The rubber chicken.

Pronounced roo-bar chee-kin, (don’t ask what kind of accent it is, as I have no idea what is going to come out of Nate’s mouth at any given time) the little squeaking bugger made his debut at Mellen and has been traveling with us ever since.

So we now ride with the power of the chicken. Don’t laugh - I think it’s working. Chicken power.

Without going into great detail, the rubber chicken mascot is a dog toy, given to her by Chris and Lori Mueller. This is the second chicken that was given to Sara, the first came from my mom who thought it was a goofy looking toy that Sara would love. (And she does love it!) So when Chris brought another chicken for her at the race in Mellen, I decided that we should use it as a team mascot since she really can only play with one at a time. I don’t think she minds sharing, but she has gotten the two confused, so poor rubber chicken has been in the jaws of a dog, but has come out unscathed.

“The Big Ring Fryer” has been to quite a few races so far, with his biggest adventure being the 24 hours of 9 mile mountain bike race that Nate did at the end of July with Vince Meyer, Michael Carter, and Chad Carter. Little did these guys know that the chicken would be their biggest supporter on the course, squeaking his little head off at every lap. For 24 hours he was out cheering on mountain bikers, giving his squeaker quite a workout. Apparently, chickens don’t sleep. Not when there is serious racing to support.

The back story on that would be that I forgot to bring a cowbell and needed something to make noise with... (I’m a girl, I’ve gotta be making some kind of noise all the time, right?) What better noise maker than a squeaking chicken dog toy! Whether it was awesome or annoying to have someone honking a chicken at you, we were out squawking at all hours of the day right before and after “check-point Charlie”. I don’t know if it is good or bad, but I became known as “chicken girl”. I guess I’ll take it as a compliment. Sorry if you rode it and I annoyed the crap out of you...

He was out in full force at Firehouse as well as Mauston. He will also make appearances at the upcoming Wisport races, as he is a big supporter of the BRF. Hopefully his fame and popularity will not go to his head as we will be unable to compensate him and I would hate for him to retire and move to another team.

Chicken is becoming quite a ham. Loves posing for pictures. Loves being in the middle of conversations. Loves being the center of attention. (Wait, am I talking about the chicken or Nate???) Has been known to be up to some serious shenanigans. He has tried to make off with my bike, has hijacked equipment and tried it on for size, tried to drink a beer(?), and has put himself in some very strange places whether it be expected or unexpected. (Let’s not discuss his visit with Goetz...please!)

So keep your eyes peeled for the red footed, red haired squeaking chicken. He can usually be found in our car, but he pops up in some unusual places. Give him a squeak for good luck, for the power of the chicken can do great things. (Okay, maybe not, but it can’t hurt either, and it’s like bubble wrap - you just can’t resist it.)

He is also a sneaky devil... he’ll show up when you least expect it. So the next time you pose for a picture, make sure you know where he is, or you may just find him sticking out of the top of your head.

You have been warned...

Guess what everyone! J the guest blogger is back... yes, Nate talked me into blogging so you all have to put up with my ramblings once again. I am absolutely certain the microwave will get cleaned this time (?)...

This weekend brought us to Mauston, WI for the Real Wheelin Road Race, which happens to be one of my favorite road races of the year. (Throw anything with hills at me and I’m a happy camper... yeah, I realize that I am a very sick person.)

Nate's recovery drink from Chirs Mueller

This year was no exception. The day started off a hoot as Nate and I had some car company along for the ride. Nate’s buddy H. Marc Larson made his road race debut and traveled with us, and after a quick stop in Oshkosh to pick up Mike Buelter we were off. I gotta say, any time you get a chance to ride with Buelter in your car, it will be a fun trip. The boy has some great stories! After arguing with the GPS about the twisting road it had us on, (really? We’re supposed to head east???) we eventually made it without the hour detour that we had last year. DOH!!!

For the first time in our new team jerseys, we had outstanding weather. Hot, a bit humid, and dry. Perfect. And I won’t have to spot treat the duds before I wash them!

The first hill is where the major break up usually happens, and true to form, that is where the field separated. As I went over the first climb, Marc came up behind me and he, I, and a few other guys tried to hook up with the lead group who were not too far up the road. Jeff Colbeth and Nate caught up to us but unfortunately a shifting error on my part caused me to drop my chain on a smaller climb. Thought I was in a different gear... oops

J, post race

Enter Maggie Fournier.

I lost my group as I was fixing my chain and she rode by. But as they say, you get by with a little help from your friends... I had Nate and Jeff hanging back for me (thanks again guys!) and both tried as well as they could to bring me back up. Unfortunately the chain devil then got Jeff too.

Man, can I say that boy has some serious bike handling skills?! How he can put a chain back on with his foot while going 20+mph is beyond me. I would liken that to trying to tie my shoe with just my left hand while running. Jeff, I am impressed.

Eventually I caught up to Maggie again, and we rode together for a little while, but being the Ironwoman she is (she rode an awsome race), she got ahead of me and I never reached her again. She was working as hard to stay ahead as I was working to catch her. I ended up time trialing the last 10 miles or so. Maggie took first, I took second, and Andrea Potyondy-Smith was third. Always the bridesmaid. I will be back to try and win the dang thing next year! Overall, it was an outstanding day and I had a TON of fun.

Nate had an awesome day. He has become quite the chaser. He can bust some serious arse when he sets his mind to it and wants to catch someone or bring someone up to a group. He has really good power and will bust his butt to help a teammate. Without him I wouldn’t have almost caught Maggie again. He ended up finishing 45th overall but likely could have been higher had he not held up for my mechanical issue.

Mike ended up flatting with a few miles to go but was able to give a temporary fix enough to get him to a 47th place finish. Jeff was 49th overall.

I have to say, as of late our team is coming together nicely, and I have some really awesome teammates.

Nate, Dave Oachs, Mike Buelter, Vince Meyer, Chris Mueller

After a hard day racing, Buelter is toe toe sweepy.

You’ll have to check back later this week for another J blog.... I think I’m calling it “The Big Ring Fryer” (stolen from Chris Mueller) or: The tale of the Roo-bar Cheek-in. (that would be rubber chicken with an accent.) It will be outstanding...

Oh yes, the team has a mascot...

Julie earned some new bragging rights Saturday: she beat me in a road race.

Not by a little, but by a lot.. 2 min or so.

She’s been racing well and continued to race well at Belleville Saturday where she just missed winning the women’s race (which was mixed into lead pack of the men’s race) by about a second after she backed off in the wake of getting bumped twice going into the sprint.

Julie with "best of both" trophy

I hopped on Greg Ferguson’s wheel early and spent a little time off the front with him until we were reeled back in (he was off the front most of the race -- or at least what I saw of it!). I didn’t expect to be much help to him, but I figured “why not” and off we went.

I spent way too much time on the front of the group in the middle of the race (about 2 pulls too many as one of the other teams did a great job blocking for teammates they had off the front and I foolishly continued to hammer away at the front -- lesson learned) and I ended up getting dropped (dropped!) about half way through the second lap. I then spent the last 5 miles riding a solo time trial.

Nate and Mike Buelter

So it was a good day all around. I learned some lessons and Julie continues to race well and hopefully got a little more experience up in the lead pack.

She also won the 5K running race in the morning and took the “Best of Both” award for an overall women's win in the 5K and bike race (by less than a minute) and came home with a hefty trophy.

We’re running out of space for these larger trophies of hers.....

Second place finisher Jamie Haag (left) and "Honker" look after precious cargo following the race

We got Julie’s new wheels on her bike this week (gotta give props to Ritchey, County Cycles in Roseville, Minn,, and theBike Hub in De Pere for making all this happen in one way or another).

Frankly the bike looks much cooler now with the carbon Ritchey wheels -- and as we (yes Beth, that means you too) know it’s all about how cool it looks. LOL

We’ll see how these work out long-term, but I think she’s picked up a little speed this week. Can't tell if its the equipment or the rider. Either way, it’s a good thing.

This is my last week of vacation for the year. This is what I’ve been doing mid-afternoon. This is also what I will do when I retire...