Yeah so for some reason or another we’ve decided to do this thing. Bill Strickland says it’s about suffering and the limits friendship. I’d say the limits of friendship are when I push Milliman into the ditch. One thing is becoming clearer, though – some riders are going to be better prepared than others. Mark Taylor and Ben Berden in particular come to mind as part of the “fast” group, ie the group that pulls us around the flat sections.

Chris and Bill? It’s unclear. They will probably be fine. Myself and Jeff? We are living over here, that should give us an edge. But between family, flu, and general laziness… I can only speak for myself but I’m thinking I’m 2-3 weeks behind schedule.

Anyway. It’s the real deal. We are going to ride all the classics. Full lengths. In one week. Or at least that’s the plan. We have great support from Campagnolo, ENVE, Challenge, Castelli, Giro, Easton, and more. We have 6 brand-new, shiny Stoempers. It’s going to be a ball.

So, how do you prepare for something like this.  Five 10-hour rides in one week, on some of the most challenging terrain for road bikes.  If you’re doing a 24hr solo MTB race, you can squeak by with some long rides on the weekends.  But anybody with a job and a life can barely pack in 10 hours in one week.

So you just ride.  As much as you can.  And hope for the best.  Living in Belgium, I’m able to get to the roads where the races are held.  Jeff and I did some of the Ardennes climbs in December.  And on Sunday I rode the amateur cyclo event of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – 95km of many of the same climbs used in the Tour of Flanders. But at only 95km, I’m still less than half of the actual race course.  And with the hardest climb being the Eikenberg, it’s not exactly 3 times up the Oude Kwaremont.

So you just keep riding.  Throw in there some flu, some broken fingers, some babies…and you get the Stoepid Week.  Here we go, less than 3 weeks of training.  Trade show next week?  No problem.  Nothing like a couple hours on the hotel gym bike.

Stoemper Ronny

Stoemper bikes are designed and built to go really really fast. Whether you like racing, or drinking beer and watching other people race, Stoemper is now here to make you do both better. We aim to be nothing short of the fastest and sexiest made-in-USA brand.

Stoemper is a small frame building company based out of Springfield, Oregon. Part Todd Gardner and part David Alvarez, we’re all about building really fast race bikes. Todd has been building steel, aluminum, ti, and more for more than a decade. David makes sure the website looks pretty. Put the two together and out comes a little Stoemper.

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