Loon State Training Camp 1996

Photo circa 1997 (L-R: Al Lindhom, Jimmer, Treb)

I joined Loon State Cyclists in the spring of 1996 after riding much of the previous summer with a couple of fellow Medtronic employees, Steve Schwister and Kevin Tidemand. Steve and Kevin had told me so many stories about spring training camp in LaCrosse, WI, there was no way I was going to pass it up.

In fact, our trip to LaCrosse almost didn't happen that year, because many from the team were doing a more elaborate trip to the Black Hills on the same weekend. Thankfully, the trip came together last minute, and 9 of us headed down. In attendance were: John Baker, Kerry Christian, Steve Schwister, Kevin Tidemand, Tim Sproul, Ron Trebesch, Al Lindholm, a young kid Al brought whose name I can't remember, and myself.

I had eaten healthy over the winter, and was pushing a solid 240lbs at the time. Kerry was a sprightly fellow that got excited at the mere mention of long climbs. When I arrived at camp, I was excited myself, but could see that I had my work cut out for me to keep up with this crew.

Kerry was the ride leader for the trip, and did not instill a lot of confidence in us with his navigational abilities. The very first road we went down turned out to be a dead end. Kerry's initial goal was to find a nasty climb in the area that they had ridden before, the dreaded Cty "S". We went up at least two coulees that turned into dead ends, forcing us to turn around, before we finally found it.

Once we were headed up "S", I wished we hadn't found it. Lindholm and I were left floundering at the bottom of the climb as the rest raced up the climb. I remember thinking "Whatever you do, just don't clip out." I was right on the verge of clipping out when I heard Al clip-out behind me. That was just enough for me to muster the courage to keep going, and I barely made it all the way to the top.

The next day, it was more of the same. Kerry took us on a death ride down into Coon Valley. I fell so far behind at one point, Baker had to ride all the way back down a climb to find me. I bonked hard, and they pointed me on the most direct route home through downtown LaCrosse, while they continued on their hammer fest.

That year we did not have sag support, so I carried everything with me. I remember the guys laughing hysterically at all the food I was pulling out of the pockets, of my tight fitting clothes.

Maren was almost 3, and Jordan was 9mos old.