Robert Herriman

Ruby....

2008-07-20T07:15:00.001-04:00

I've still never been to Ruby Campground... It's a beautiful morning as I type this, camelbak is filled, bike and everything I need to race is loaded in the car, etc.... But I just pulled the plug. The weather radar makes me think rain will arrive just as I get there to do my pre-ride lap and from what everyone says, a pre-ride lap at Ruby would be kinda important to my well being... Of course, it will probably end up a glorious day... Oh well... At least my perfect record of never riding the trails there is still intact...

Bloomer Intervals

2008-07-17T23:19:00.011-04:00

Met up with the guys to do an almost structured workout at Bloomer tonight... We did several hard intervals, repeating short sections of trail, with some good rest between the efforts... It was my idea to try and get ready for Ruby this Sunday... I've never ridden the trails at Ruby but from what I hear Bloomer is probably the best substitute around here.. Greg suggested we climb the big switch backs as there are some steep climbs at Ruby... That was surprisingly tough.. I hope you guys enjoyed the workout. I sure did...

5K

2008-07-15T23:55:00.004-04:00

I crossed the 5000 mile mark for 2008 today. Except for 2005, the year I broke my ankle, that's thousands of miles down for the year. Uhg! Oh well, stuff happens. Maybe next year will be another big year...

Miles on this day in Robert history...
July 15, 2008 - 5012 miles
July 15, 2007 - 7044 miles
July 15, 2006 - 7334 miles
July 15, 2005 - 4913 miles
July 15, 2004 - 8805 miles
July 15, 2003 - 8286 miles
July 15, 2002 - 8074 miles

OK a quiz..
What is the name of the wild grass that's seed head is stuck in my handelbar's end plug in this photo?? I don't know the answer. I just like when those things get wedged in there like that. Kinda like little natural streamers... They're cool...

Kids Boyne Marathon

2008-07-12T22:18:00.002-04:00

Brent turned the kid's race into a mini marathon. They did a timed 30 minute race. They all did awesome!!!

Boyne Marathon Weekend

2008-07-12T21:23:00.003-04:00

After a week of silly stressing over the bike the weekend turned out awesome!!!

Joe Lee and I rolled up in my Charger Friday morning... A fun pre-ride lap of Boyne with Favata and then we were off to the Red Mesa Grill in Boyne City. Seems like there's always something going on in that little city. They had the streets blocked off with some off shore boats on display, a few bands set up jamming, and gymnasts in the park.

Race morning looked nice till it started sprinkling. Forecasts for thunderstorms had a few people pass on the race. Well it only sprinkled long enough to make the pavement shiny and then about 20 min before our race it stopped and by mid race we were bakeing in the sun. It was a bit of a bummer there was such a poor turnout. I thought with the Michigan road scene having nothing on it's calendar this month we might get a bunch of those guys. Guess the price at the pump is really having an impact. So 5 guys started my race. Hmmm... Just finish and I'm in the money. :-) The race was fun. It's hard to beat Boyne with it's fast flowing downhill runs. One interesting course change was the final loose gravel downhill from the past couple years was replace by a golf cart path downhill. That was pretty cool.

Brent even did a marathon for the kids race.. They rode a timed 30 min race...

And after the awards Joe and I were off to the LumberJack.. Yummm...

Stressing the little stuff

2008-07-11T21:20:00.001-04:00

Uhg!!! I would like a "do over" on last 4 days.... It all started on Monday when I finally broke down and took a night off the bike to build my new 2008 fuel ex... I have been putting this off for several months.. I did the work up at the bike shop so I could get a few tips on some things I didn't know how to do... I don't like working on bikes... I just like riding them... Probably why there are so many in my basement.. Just grab a second bike if something doesn't work on the first... Anyway, Monday night was spent ripping down the 2007 fuel.. The bike shop would build up the 2008 on Tuesday.. I get to the shop on Tuesday at closing time and they were swamped all day with business and well, Wednesday will be fine... I go to the shop after work on Wednesday and there's a problem. The 2007 Fox Float shock does not fit in the 2008 frame. I contacted Fox and they confirmed the air valve assembly was redesigned and the 2007 shock and wont work in the 2008 frame... OK I'll just grab another bike... My 2006 top fuel should work perfect... But it's been a year since it's been on a trail... I zip home and give the bike a little TLC and take it for a short ride and I start to feel kinda anxious about racing it in a couple days... The setup, components, geometry, etc.. is all just different enough that I don't feel comfortable... Wednesday night and Thursday morning are spent considering rebuilding the old bike... And so on Thursday I spend about 5 hours on the old bike and I'm back where I was on Monday... And my bike miles for the 4 days??? A measly 66... Bah! I feel like I wasted 3 days of my life and accomplished nothing... Still it was worth getting the old fuel ex going again... I love that bike... Thanks to the guys at the shop for putting up with me for the week... Oh and the gash in my forehead from the bike stand is healing up fine... I should never be allowed to work on bikes...

2008-07-06T19:28:00.005-04:00

Today I met up with the Dolppinator and Joe Lee for another perfect day of riding... A little bit of Bloomer trails and then the Stony Trails... We also finally checked out the "skills" stuff at Stony... I say we.. Well... the Dolppinator was doing some of the stuff.. We also found lil pony doing multiple laps of the stunts on his road bike??? Some kinda cross training thing I guess... I was willing to stop at 92 miles today as that gave me exactly 400 miles for the week.. :-)

DEATH LOOP

2008-07-05T23:17:00.001-04:00

A nice ride today chasing Simonster and Randy around on Simonster's DEATH LOOP (I had my attorney get my will in order before the ride just in case). The weather was just perfect with a nice light breeze and clear blue skies.. It was a good day to die, but some how I survived. When I finally staggered home I was at 90 miles. Another 10 to get the hundo? Of course.

Monday Night Ride..

2008-07-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

the obligatory monthly group photo...

OD 2 the TT

2008-06-29T16:56:00.005-04:00

I met the Clikeman, the Finkelstein, and the Dolppinator at 5:45 am in downtown Royal Oak this morning... I know!! I didn't think I could get up that early either. We volunteered to help out at the state road tt race in Dearborn and the idea to ride there made the event something to look forward to.. Early in the week talking with Cullen on the route there, he said "Outer Drive Dude!" Sunrise on our way down was spectacular...

Stony Marathon

2008-06-28T22:05:00.003-04:00

Just enough guys had even worse days than I did today, to allow me a spot in the money. Even though I went pretty slow I thought it was impressive the consistency of my last three laps.. Within 5 seconds of each other..

Oh, yeah... Today was kind of a mudfest...

Here's the Post Race Cruise.

And me, photo by Bizkit.

2008-06-22T20:20:00.004-04:00

Saturday's ride was so fun I did the S.C.A.B. 100 again today... The double century weekend gave me my biggest week of the year... Yay!!

2008-06-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

The Dolppinator and I rolled out this morning from Royal Oak.

Hit up Stony Creek, Addison, and Bald mountain.

Back home at the end of the day with 100 miles. Perfect!

Web Logs..

2008-06-19T22:14:00.007-04:00

I spent some time wandering around the interweb looking for Lumberjack 100 race reports this week... It's kind of the reason I started my own weblog, was that I enjoyed reading others thoughts on their races. One of my best buddies in the world dissed the blogs as "self promotion" but I just think it's a great way to share stories and to preserve memories. I already look back and reminisce after only 2 years of weblogging...

Of course just click on the riders name for their report...

Harlan Price 7:11:36
Christian Tanguy 7:28:41
Gerry Pflug 7:48:18
Mike Simonson 7:52:23
John Myline 7:58:17
John Meyers 8:05:29
Greg Kuhn 8:12:17
Jason Lummis 8:16:22
Chris Strout 8:20:46
Robert Herriman 8:29:08
Brad Hranch 9:18:57
Tom Greene 9:39:24
Chad Schut 9:40:14
Danielle Musto 9:43:19
Justin Lund 10:08:44
Todd Powers 10:10:32
Craig Morris 11:18:47
Noreen Greene 11:23:56
Ed McCalley 11:40:53
Eric Cook 11:56:18
Kerry Combs 12:47:45
Dan Frayer DNF
Lindsay Rodkey DNF
Scott Cole DNF
Steve Kinley DNF
Mike Clark DNF
Nametra O'Dea DNS
Andrea Davis

Last Ride

2008-06-15T14:11:00.006-04:00

7 months ago (nov 07) I noticed a little horizontal crack in the seat tube of my 2007 Trek Fuel EX 9.5.. Trek was really quick to send me a new 2008 Fuel EX 9.5 frame, but I have been really slow to build it up. But I have promised Tanguy I'll do it this week... So looks like Lumberjack will be the last ride on the 07...

R.I.P., 3847 miles... My all time favorite bike...

Lumberjack 100

2008-06-14T23:46:00.012-04:00

I now have a set of 4 lumberjack pint glasses.... :-)

I finished 17th overall... in 8:29:08... Told friends I'd be happy with a top 20 this year and I am.. I felt pretty good in the first 50 miles and the last 50 I was just feeling tired, but I was not in misery.. Camped with Christian and Linda on Friday Night. Slept pretty well but had the typical wake up every hour and look at the clock. I don't know if it's being anxious for the race or for waking up at 4:45 am, I'm not morning person.. I had not even cleaned the mud off the bike from Brighton... The bike worked fine a week ago it should be ok, right? As we rolled off the start line at 7:10 am, I positioned myself about 20th and ended up rolling around with Dan K and a new friend Will for the first half of the race. Guess this will be the year we all remember the swamp section.. They had some kind of storm of the century just a day before the race and it flooded a part of the trail turning it into knee deep muck. They had lifeguards stationed at the swamp. No kidding... Marty was my support again this year. Thanks MARTY!!! She's supported me several times now and I like her style... After the race I was treated to a real nice time at Camp Simonster.. I rolled up to the race solo this year, which with the fuel prices was maybe not ideal but the alone time was pretty relaxing, and the Charger averaged 30 mpg for the trip. Seriously!!

My lumberjack history..
2005 Lumberjack 100 - DNF (Broken collarbone at mile 42)
2006 Lumberjack 100 - 6th overall in 8:03
2007 Lumberjack 100 - 8th overall in 7:34
2008 Lumberjack 100 - 17th overall in 8:29

Will, Dan, and I... 99 miles to go...

Brighton Stage Race (Day 3)

2008-06-09T23:52:00.004-04:00

DAY THREE???

Can I stop now???

Oh man, that was a tough one...

I was so bummed out over my performance, that when I rolled into the finish yesterday, I think I started to cry. Seriously! I had the whole lower lip quiver thing going on and tears welling up in my eyes. I know, I know, pretty pathetic. I'm all better now and maybe it was just delirium caused by fluid/electrolyte disturbances (I looked that up on the Interweb).

My race was a nightmare. My body totally refused to cooperate. I had no power, low back pain, hip flexor pain, knee pain, blisters on my hands, mid race a stick or something got into my shoe and was stabbing my foot, sweltering heat, and the greasy trails. Uhg! I was in a world of hurt. I did some quick math after that first lap and realized the misery was going to last over 3 hours. Bah!

Well, At least I have a couple days here to recover before the Lumberjack 100. Ahhh!!!

Rolling off the line for the Time Trial..

Brighton Stage Race (Day 2)

2008-06-08T15:41:00.005-04:00

Elite Results

Cross Country Race

Overall Stage Race Results

The Podium

Brighton Stage Race (Day 1)

2008-06-07T18:51:00.004-04:00

Elite Results from Day One...

Time Trial

Short Track

Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart

2008-06-04T23:59:00.001-04:00

I went down to The Fillmore in Detroit tonight to see the Stone Temple Pilots. They were awesome! Also took a half day vacation, from work, so I could get a nice little 40 mile ride in before the show. When the concert ended we all stepped out into downtown Detroit celebrating the Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup!!! It was a good day...

Rock Star, Scott Weiland...

Hanson Hills

2008-06-01T17:15:00.003-04:00

It was a pretty fast elite group today and I didn't have the legs to do the pace the guys were riding on that first climb... So I tried to settle in, have fun the rest of the way, and maybe someone would come back to me, but the motivation was low rolling around, almost last. On the final lap I saw Dan K which was a little motivation for me and I rode a bit harder to catch him. Dan didn't put up a fight and just waved me around. At the end I was just a minute behind Bill but we were both pretty far off the fast guys. Still, always fun.

Elite results...

Waterford Hills Summer Series #4

2008-05-29T23:33:00.002-04:00

Tonight ended up really fun and I felt pretty good. I'd say the best I have felt so far this year. It's been just over 6 weeks since I got back to riding. Simonster said it would take 6 weeks to get going again. :-)

A Race - 2 Hours + 2 laps
45 Riders in the field

1. Dan Klein - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F
2. James Bruce - Lathrup Industries
3. Tim Saari - Essex Brass
4. Taylor Brockenshire - A-Bikes
5. Rich Russell - Essex Brass
6. Tim Finkel - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F
7. Christopher Bogedin - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F
8. Terry Palmer - Essex Brass
9. Robert Herriman - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F
10. Scott Kroske - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F
11. John Sammut - WOLVERINE/AMERICAN C & F

107 today

2008-05-25T22:32:00.016-04:00

A solo 107 mile ride today.. The 107 was intentional as it finished up the week at 350 miles.. A little trail action at Bloomer and then a big rail trail/dirt road tour.. It was an awesome day!

Tour de Frankenmuth

2008-05-24T23:15:00.007-04:00

My 3rd road bike ride of the year today, which already ties last years total of 3 rides. :-) I felt pretty comfortable for the first 20 miles but then there was an event that had a lot of the guys in difficulty. Ouch! It got really hard all of a sudden. From that point on I was pretty much in survival mode. I'm still having a hard time finding my fitness this year. At the end I rolled in with the field and felt pretty happy about that. Danny ended up in a successful break and 8th. Luke won the field sprint for the last money spot, 12th. I ended the day with a nice cool down ride to total up 111 miles... Whoo hoo!!

Happy to be done...

Team Photo Night

2008-05-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

We tried to get some pics of the team tonight... The weather did not want to cooperate. Overcast, cold and windy... Oh well, it was still fun...