…Faster than Last
“Bones heal, pain is temporary, and chicks dig scars…”
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about Jason Kayzar:
Unprofessional Cyclist
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Every great story needs a demon; an anti-hero. In 2011, ours showed up in full force: flat tires, wrong turns, racing the setting sun with no lights, aching legs, no Plan B, and the kind of grit that only emerges when everything goes sideways. That was the very first Windy 500, it was chaos wrapped…
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“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~ Aristotle Well here we are – Year 13 of this thing we call “the Windy”. After Year One I lost count of how many different riders have participated in one way, shape or form, but I’m guessing that it’s 70+. Most go the full distance, a…
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“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Longfellow I ran into Lex at Colectivo a few weeks ago, and he gently reminded me that this wrap-up has been sitting in my to-do box for way too long. He’s right, but I needed time to think through my…
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“Die first. Then you can go about the business of living.” ~ Ekhart Tolle Well, here we are. Year 11. The Annual Ride of Stupidity. In the books. The riding was great, and the weather was great (except when it wasn’t). The group was great – good size, great guys. The new Door County route…
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All, 2021 will be the 11th running of the Windy (10th anniversary). After the 2019 edition, I had grand dreams of making the 2020 version into something huge. As it turns out, that is what spoiled the magic in the first place. 2020 ended up being (because of COVID) one of the smallest groups of…
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This is what 51 years old looks like. More specifically, this is what it looks like at the halfway point of this year’s ride, with 2 days, 260 miles, and 11,000+ feet of climbing in. In fact, this is exactly what 51 looks like after the tenth year of this ride. 5,089 total miles. So…
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Just like my FrankenBike, The Fetish has been many things, and can do all things: But it’s never been a disc-equipped rig. Until sometime between now and later: Goodbye cantilevers… Winter project – complete tear apart, sand, file, obsess, re-paint, rebuild… Progress is slow and painful… To be continued… After what seemed like an eternity…
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On August 17, 1999, I was run over by a van. I was on a motorcycle doing about 50 mph, and then I was on the ground in a pool of blood doing 0 mph. My femur was sticking through my leg, my hip was shattered and I was bleeding to death in the middle…
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511 miles. 10,613 ft of elevation. 4 days of awesome. That’s the facts. Now the fluff… The Windy 500 (AKA: “The Windy”) is now 9 years old. In total, we’ve covered 4,594 miles (New York to Los Angeles and back) and climbed 105,704 feet (20+ miles straight up). For reference, the “Death Zone” begins at…
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509 miles this year makes it 4,083 total Windy 500 miles ridden for me so far. That’s the equivalent of a round-trip ride from Toronto, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and back. For the rest of you Pop Tarts, your total Windy mileage ranges somewhere between 4,083 (McArdle) & 509 (everyone else). What matters…
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Yeah, that just happened. The Windy 500 just became the most spectacular thing ever. And you weren’t there. It was Sofa King awesome, that it may never eclipse itself. Like Leo Sayer singing with Barry Gibb AND Justin Timberlake. Or donut wrapped hot dogs. It was that good. We may as well all put on…
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AKA: 14.5 Reasons Riding Bikes 500 Miles Will Make You More Awesome The 2016 Windy 500 rolled out sort of on-time on Friday, July 30th at 8:20am-ish, 27 strong. Blake signed on again as our lead-out man. We would have left earlier if not for a mystery deuce or two. No idea who was responsible, but I…
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“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” – Hunter S. Thompson There are certain questions that only…
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Alright folks, here it is – the one and only Windy 500 has once again shocked and amazed. Old friends got reacquainted, new friends were made, beers were consumed and miles were ridden. If you weren’t there, here’s a little glimpse of what you missed. If you WERE there, consider yourself down, and take a…
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It’s officially over. Until next year. Could not have been better. Look for the official Ride Report in the next couple of days…
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2015 Windy 500 rolls in 8 days…
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Awesome 10 days of racing, and a surprising 4th overall after our leader had a string of bad luck and dropped from 2nd to 5th overall. Great team, great guys, great sponsors and great event.
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Just throwing it out there… I have a shit-ton of jerseys, and I figured it would be really cool to swap my old ones with someone from far, far away. By total chance this weekend, I found some dude in Pakistan on Instagram rocking a jersey I sold on Ebay 2 years ago. So I Googled…
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We’re proud to introduce our first 2015 in-kind sponsor: Pabst Blue Ribbon! I was pretty stoked when this Windy 500 care package arrived today! PBR Racing jerseys, caps and some highly coveted head badges. For years we have enjoyed this sweet, sweet nectar pre-, during and post-ride. Now we’ll be flying the colors in…
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Golf is where it’s at! Look at John Daly – livin’ the dream. Sleep? Proper diet? Exercise? SUCKERS. Just because I have barely ridden my bike lately and only slept occasionally is no reason for me to give up on my dreams of being a competitive athlete. Seriously, look at that tank! Had I known…
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See you in 2015!
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I flew to Switzerland last night to attend the official press announcement for the 2015 Windy 500. The event was a phenomenal, star-studded extravaganza. I sat between Ben Stiller and Mark Cavendish. Can’t believe that our little ride has grown into a Worldwide affair. Anyway, the 2015 Windy 500 (V) will once again travel North…
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This is always my favorite time of the cycling season. Road racing is done and riding can be done for the sake of just riding. I just wrapped up my annual 500 mile bike trip (the “Windy 500“). It was by far the best yet. I thought a lot, about a lot of things and…
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What turned out to the be the best Windy 500 ever fell short in only one category: mileage. This year’s route left us 4 miles short: 496 miles with an 18mph average speed. In all the years past we were always over, so at this point I’m using my rollover miles to call it an…
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We are nowhere near as cool or sexy as these long-maned Swedish man-whores, but we’re not opposed to letting a Glam Metal staple like Europe explain the Windy 500 v4.0: “We’re leaving together, But still it’s farewell And maybe we’ll come back, To earth, who can tell?” I don’t even know if they speaks the English…
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Short and sweet; ToAD hard. Ronald good. Until next year.
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About a week ago, I got a call at my desk from CNN. My first thought was: who is this and what are they trying to sell me?? Turns out they were doing an article about cycling and business and someone tipped them off to my Midwest Cycling Networking group. Here’s the article: For entrepreneurs,…
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2014 Race #1: If you’re going to flat, wait until there’s a half a lap to go! Just sayin’. DNF.
...Faster than Last 