Mohican State Park race and Mohican Wilderness race

Hey, what can I say, we are a little behind on the posts. Starting with the State Park race...My story is quick...Coming off an injury I was going to try the race but Ryan forgot his shoes so he used mine (size 13 in a size 10.5). It was more important for him to race because he was doing well in the points for the OMBC. Turns out he DNF'd because he broke my pedal. His big toenail still isn't the same. I don't know how he'll ever go on. I got in a good trail run that left me nearly unable to walk for 2 weeks. Cycling does not translate to running. period. Lorson got 3rd in the open vet race with Wes at 7th down only by 2 minutes. Shawn Jones got 10th in the sport division. Next, the Mohican Wilderness...ouch...my first race back. The hardest first 2 miles in the world I think. I couldn't believe I found myself roll up on our two main guys (John and Wes) turned inside out and sick on the last climb before you finally get to go down hill a bit. I carried the SoupCan flag briefly until my rear skewer loosened in the rock garden and they both got their legs underneath them and proceeded to drill it the rest of the race. (thats what good racers do, overcome, right?). So three laps there is like being tortured with torture. John ended up 3rd and Wes 4th, me 6th. Shawn and Ryan 8th and 6th in Sport repectively. Overall the OMBC found John 3rd, Wes 4th in the open vet and Ryan 4th (would have one but he hosed himself with a dnf) and Shawn 5th.

twisting and turning through reagan park

Team soupcan headed to reagan park to finish up the neo power series. Lorson did what he had to do and took home gold for the series and won 38 thousand calories worth of burritos. Mags ended up second in the sport class while i took my usual spot as the expert book end to lorson he wins and i fill the last money or podium spot which this time was a 5th for the overall points.The time trial its self was pretty good lorson was 5th i ended up 6th in the old guy expert . Mags finished 4th. The organisation put on a fantastic event no complaints of any kind.Then in true team soupcan fashion rounded the day off with a trip to the local chicken wing and beer establishment with some team solon hooligans (aka rodgers and davis).Cant think our sponsors enough soupcaninsoles which has made all this happen, ride on bike shop in wooster, desperate enterprise and cannondale who stepped up and put us on great bikes. Not to be left out is the team boss soup himself who was busy making future mountain bikers happy by giving up shwag to little dudes who like his logo.

endeavor to persevere my friends

vultures knob write-up by Ryan

Thats the last time I ask Ryan to update the blog...

The Knob Finalie/Power Series

Alas we come upon the final Knob race and the 2nd stop for the NEO Power series. Dr. Soup had to set this one out with a slight case of tennis elbow. Need I say more about that. The big news was John gettin 1st in expert 35 plus catagory which I'm pretty sure sealed up the seriers win and put him in a good position to take the NEO series finalie at Regan Park. Dr. Soup provided good fan support even though he came down with a bad case of gonorrhea and couldn't race. Wes and I pretty much decided that we sucked at this race. Even though Wes got 4th in a though class and I slugged along in the Sport class and managed to muster up 6th place. I think I would've done better if Dr.Soup didn't catch that bad case of chlamydia. But all is well that ends well with a few beers and the best MTB parties of all at the knob with some cheap beer from Dr. Soup and the traditional Knob bonfires that can be seen from the next state. Let's hope Dr. Soups mammogram results come back negative so he can be cleard to ride again!

The Manatoc Experience

Lorson wins!...by minutes!...WOW! Man am I glad he is on my team. The rain made things questionable and when Wes and I prerode the course the day before it was horrible. It dried up OK and turned out great. Good job to the organizers and promoters! Wes took 6th or 7th and I took 10th. The sport category was huge. Ryan had trouble with his chain tension and had to soft pedal aroung the course and put his chain back on about 20 times. But gotta give him credit, most would have DNF'd. Shawn Jones had a little bike trouble too but did great anyway. He must have been ashamed of himself for not winning and left before we took the picture! We all got new bikes and are getting used to things. Up until this point we were all rigid. We now use a lefty fork and let me tell you what...descending is a lot faster and more stable and it really locks out rigidly for fast climbing. It just took the right fork to convince us.

Our sponsor list is growing for next year! Thanks to Bob Grimm at Rainbow Inks for coming on! Ryan tells me we can always count on Desperate Enterprises. The Cleveland Clinic sports health will be providing training and tuning up our motors. Of course Suppan Foot and Ankle Clinic and SoupCanInsoles.com will be there. And let us not forget our shop sponsor Ride On in Wooster. The owner, Bill Buchwalter really pulled through and helped us get Cannondale on board! We still have about 6 races left in the year and its still just as fun as when we started.

Team SoupCan test monkeys

Team SoupCan was at the Cleveland Clinic with our coach, Frank Ianotti, doing some midseason fitness testing and bike evaluation. Hooked up to a concotion of machines and computers we were put through the ringer with warm ups, 5 minute time trials, 40 minute lactic acid threshold testing, then a huge sprint at the end. Data was gathered to weigh where we are midseason and look for strengths and weaknesses and to create an off season training plan to get us ready for next season. It was really cool. I think we all felt like Lance Armstrong while others looked on. Its amazing how it exposes you for what you are. Ryans testing just said "pussy" on the computer screen. Mine said "badass mofo". Ok, that was pure fantasy. Ryan actually is the big power guy. John is the "model" as Frank liked to call him. Wes is even and great at everything but over-trains (frankly, he just loves to be on a bike...can you blame him?). Although it must feel good for Wes to know that he can be better simply by training less...sounds like a dream plan.

I would recommend to anyone who is serious about getting better on a bicycle that they check into a cycling coach. I would go even farther by recommending Frank Ianotti. His main office is in Bedford Heights at the brand new Cleveland Clinic Sports Health and Performance Center. He really knows what he's talking about and is an avid cyclist himself. Everyone spends all kinds of money buying parts to improve their bike but no one ever spends money on improving the motor. Doesn't make any sense, does it?

Uptight, white and outta sight.