Fort Collins midweek Cyclocross

After a few days of rain it was inevitable that the course held behind the New Belgium brewery would have a bit of mud in the previously loose dirt sections.
That mud and the packed dirt that was found on other parts of the course were ideal for me. I didn't have any fear in corners, railing on the packed debris like a Tyco slot car. I got out fast and never looked back as I went on to solo the 30 minute affair.
$20 for the win - woohoo! They have now bumped me up to the A race only.
My once pristine clean Ridley Supercross was now a mudcake.
Well since it's only mud I guess that I might as well race the A race too.
Lapped around fairly easy with Anthony from Rio Grande giving out pointers for the fastest line. It was pretty nice not to have to ride all out. I took my time sitting up when I started gettting too far ahead. This went on for half the race before the leaders passed us up. I had decided that Anthony had had enough of me and took off alone. I was riding pretty good still. even after the first race. What a difference a couple a weeks make. 2 weeks ago I could barely walk after 2 races.
I'm really digging the CX stuff. We'll see how long this high lasts after it turns nasty cold.

Foothills Cross and snow

Yesterday came home from work and saw that there was snowed piled up against the north sides of the house and garage. Not very much mind you but jeez, this is still September.

Finished my first official CX race of the year Sunday. I raced only the 3s. It sure sucks when most of the Cat 3s are half your age and can recover at the speed of light. I did enjoy the race even though due to the bumpy nature of this course my back was screaming - STOP!!
I hope to do much better with a bit more intensity in my diet. Motivation to ride hard sure has dropped since the end of Road Season.

Tonight's practice CX race should be fun if the course is still muddy from the 2 days of rain we had.
Oh yeah, I have a new ride for CX season, a Ridley Supercross in blue and white.

Road season is over. It's SKUNK season now!

Well the road season is over. It is now the time to have fun in the mud/snow/sand as Cyclocross is now at hand.
So I go out yesterday to check out a possible course to set up here in Cheyenne. It's complete with a steep run up, sand, gravel, and grass. I just needed to mark out a loop for the riders here to do laps on.
Not 5 minutes into the ride with my dogs and I smell this HORRIBLE acrid nasty stench. I look back and Nikki is coming toward me with some kind of liquid on her face with one eye closed.
CRAP she got hit by a skunk!
Lucky for me Axel was not involved in the skunk encounter.
I rode back to the truck to wash off her face. I was in front of her buct I was still gagging from the smell.
I had made the mistake of touching her face with my gloves on. So now I'm down for a new pair of gloves (and handlebar tape which has absorbed the skunk oils)
We race home to give her a good washing.

Note: consult internet first for proper way to eliminate odor

Tomato juice (as recommended by my neighbor) does not work.

2 washes later and she still stinks, just not as bad. We go for a ride to dry her out (and tire her out as she is going to be spending some time in her crate)

Well my neighbors swore by tomato juice so I tried that after the run. Still no dice so into the crate she went.

Any clothes that made contact should be thrown in the trash not the wash machine. Now I have a wash machine that reeks of skunk. People are telling me to run a bottle of Coca Cola in the wash mashine to clean it out. Hmm, I remember what happened last time I listened to this kind of advice. I'll seach the internet first.

Tonight I will do the proven solution to skunk odors on pets

http://briansplace.ynt1.com/skunk.php

If all goes well the unlucky girl will be sleeping on the bed tonight.

They say there are 2 types of dogs in this case.

(A) Those that learn the first time to stay clear of danger and (B) those that never learn.

I'm stocking up on De-skunking supplies. I'm fairly certain that she is type B.

4 days of racing

4 straight days of hard saddle time has prepared (forced) me to take a short break before the Parker Twilight Crits.
Saturday thru Monday I was riding it out in the Santa Fe Trail stage race. 20 miles of time trial followed by 75 mile road race then a 40 minute criterium. Finished 2nd out of 4 riders in my category, WooHoo!
If that wasn't enough, yesterday I drove down to Ft Collins after feeling sick most of the day and did 2 cyclocross races. Of which I crashed on the last lap of the first race when I was bearing down on the leaders. So after a 35 minute and 45 minute CX race I headed back up home where I promptly put the ice pack on my neck and shoulder. Evenually cleaning myself up to put new bandages on my hip and knee.
And I thought I was through with the med kit for a while.