Wyo Racer X

Racing again

2009-03-01T11:17:00.001-08:00

Woke up Sunday with no knee pain and decided to head south to Fort Collins for the Oval Crit. Met up with teammates TR and Pinto who were fresh off their weeklong travels complaining about hotel exercise bike saddles. They did the 45 minute cat 3 race while I warmed up for the 60 minute main event. Pinto pulled out a sprint good enough for 3rd place while TR again had rear wheel problems after a crash on the last lap took him down. My race started out fast as my heart rate went from resting to 170 in 30 seconds and stayed there for the rest of the hour. 8 minutes in it felt like 20 and I was wondering if I was going to come off the back as we cruised the first few laps @28mph avg. I eventually settled in and was able to move up in the field, even taking a couple shots at getting into a chase group after the breakaway was up the road. I finished in the field which was a great result when analyze my training. Of course the lack of intensity is showing the day after. I feel as if I’ve been hit by a truck and my lungs had been pulled partway up my throat. Next weekend maybe I’ll race with riders my age as there is a Masters race scheduled.
Today will be a nice recovery ride with a trip to the lanes to work on my bowling game.

Will the knee injuries ever stop?

2009-02-27T06:54:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks of nice temps I wake up to a dusting of snow. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon will be much warmer. First race of the year is at Fort Collins. I've been riding well since my knee surgery with little to no pain. That was until yesterday when I banged my right knee hard against a metal fixture at work. It's not swollen but it is tender to touch. I'll check it out today. So right now it's a game day decision.

soon to be back

2009-01-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah yeah, I've bee a bit out of the online posting lately. Stay tuned

back from a lazy break

2008-12-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

Yeah it's been awhile.
And at a time when a lot has been going on.

One word: LAZY

Knee arthroscopy went extremly well. No pain whatsoever and was back on the bike rehabbing it 2 days later. 4 days after surgery i rode outside with the dogs for a half hour.
At the follow up visit, 10 days later, the doctor told me the torn meniscus was pretty extensive and was surprised that I lasted so long with it that way. He was pretty impressed by my recovery so far. Determination
I couldn't have picked a better day week to be off after surgery. The snow pushed in and dumped a few inches. The next day 70 mph winds carried all the snow to Nebraska. It was pretty impressive watching it from my front windows.
winter looks to have finally made it to the area. It's been unseasonably warm. I can't remember being able to ride in 50 degree temps in Decembers past. Like today, before the canadian cold front came, I was hitting the trails at 7000' with the dogs in 45 degree sunny weather.
Unfortunately the snow looks like it will pass me without the predicted 2-4". The temps will be around a high of 10 tomorrow though.
I dislike cold without the snow. It just doesn't make any sense.

kinnigits!

2008-11-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

I don't buy to many DVDs anymore after I realized that i normally only watch them once or twice. But Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of my favorites that I have watched countless times. So imagine my distraught when I found the disc cracked in half. Not sure what happened to it but I shall now have to seek out a new one. Lucky for me youtube has all the highlights.

2008-11-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

Just over a week till knee surgery. The weather here has been fairly nice (excluding monday's high of 32) I got in a couple hours of riding. The wind was a reasonable 15-20MPH. With highs in the 50s this week I'll get a few lunch time rides in. Got to keep up the leg strength for the post-op rehab.
The vet recently gave all my animals their shots and health checkups. She said my dogs are some of the fittest she has seen. 2-8 miles running per day will do that to them. My eldest Cat Peja may need some teeth cleaning unless I can get him to brush his teeth.
Work is slow. Working in a bike shop in the winter time is not something that is fun. A whole day could go by and you might see 3 customers (in addition to the regular daily visitors that just want to hang out).
Thanksgiving is next week, maybe I can take off Friday and head out for a round of flyfishing if the weather cooperates.
That's all for now.

Pain in the Knee

2008-11-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well, you know it's time to put something here when your sister gets on you about how you haven't posted in a while.
So here it goes.
After my last cyclocross race I took a day of rest and played with the dogs instead of riding my bike. This "play" time stressed my nagging knee pain to the breaking point sending me into pain level 10 with a following trip to the e-room as I could barely walk. 3 weeks later, an MRI and subsequent trip to an Orthopedic doctor I finally have my results.

Drum roll please......

A torn meniscus! and as a secondary result of the MRI, the doc also found some arthritis in the knee.
Arthroscopic surgery to be scheduled.
On another note, Dogs are enjoying their last days going for walks and runs under warm conditions. Winter is coming fast. We dodged a bullet last week when the storm hit to the north. Lows lately have been in the low 30s and we have already had our first 50+ mph winds of the Fall season. Stay tuned for more exciting stuff.

2008-10-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

Found this picture of me from the race last Saturday. That mud was thick and rutted. I had just passed the guy behind me and was in the process of pouring it on. The look on my face says it all.

And this is the mud track

CX XILINX

2008-10-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

I cyclocrossed today in Longmont at the Xilinx campus. It's one of my favorite venues and the cold was not going to deter me. I think it topped out around 45 degrees. It was a cold 45 because of a slight drizzel and overcast skies. The course which my teammate described to me 2 days ago was bumpy and hardpack no mud. The off and on rain and 4 or 5 races before me softened up the dirt enough and turned one section into a veritable mud bog. I didn't get too much of a warmup as I had a flat tire after 1/2 a practice lap and was forced to do a tire/tube change 15 minutes before the start. I didn't have a great start, starting near the back, and was unprepared for the 0-60 start that is the norm for these races. I just kept it real and did my best not to be last. 1/3 a lap in, my teammate who was in the singlespeed division starting 1 minute behind me comes flying past me. Soon after that, it seemed like the entire singlespeed category had passed me. Whoa, this is going to be a long race I thought. About halfway through the 45 minute ordeal I started to feel better and actually caught and passed some riders. I was relieved when I crossed the line with 1 lap to go. It's almost over. Of course there has to be someone making a last minute dig to pass the next rider up. So I had a battle on my hands and I wasn't going to let him catch or pass me. Everything was clicking on the last lap. No bobbles, slips, or errors. Not sure were I finished but it makes no difference when you are having fun.
Of course all the mud took a toll on the bike and clothes. No pictures unfortunately, but it took me an hour to clean the bike and hose off my shoes. I'll probably have to disassemble the freehub and bottom bracket as they sound horrible.
Snow is forecasted to fall tonight so I should wake up to a white Sunday.
The Pellet stove is kicking out some great heat drying my shoes, clothes, and bike. Even on low it maintains a nice temperature of over 70 degrees in the living areas. here is a video of cross, not the race I did.

Interbike revisited

2008-10-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

With all the information overload I was unable to post anything lately. I've since recovered enough to add to to the last post.
Fun, saw lots of people, saw a few friends that I hadn't seen in 20 years, made new friends, saw a ton of new products, drank Fat Tire and a bunch of esspressos, watched a Tim Johnson Cyclocross season documentary, raced a cross race, watched Lance Armstrong race a cross race, took home a bunch of food and product samples, unpacked 10 new waterbottles 7 bottle openers, 2 carbon clothes hangers, titanium cross frame, carbon cross fork, new shoes, 35 business cards, 1 t-shirt, countless decals, 5 posters, 3 beer glasses (one signed by Phil Liggett), enjoyed the warm evenings riding with the dogs, saw some retired european pros (Eddy Merckx, Maurizio Fondriest, Johann Museeuw) as well as many current pros. Made it back home in one piece.

US National Cyclocross champion Tim Johnson telling us he doesn't run for cross training

He's crazy. He's always been crazy. And what on EARTH is he doing?

made it through Interbike with nary a scratch

2008-09-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

what a week. The industries biggest N American week ended today and I had the (mis)fortune of closing it down waiting for my turn to get my new Shimano high end shoes properly fitted. i got to meet a lot of great people and many of whom I've only seen on tv or read about in magazines.

The first day of the indoor I'm standing in the Sinclair Imports booth (Ridley Bikes importer) and the next booth over is the Merckx booth with Eddie Merckx himself unveiling his latest creation.

I shook his hand and thanked him for the first 2 race bikes I ever owned.

a lot of running around and then all too soon it was back to the truck to drive north to pick up the cross bike and dogs for Cross Vegas. Traffic was horrible and I forgot my map to the venue. I was working off of 5 day old memories of the street names. Traffic was so bad that I thought I'd be watching my race from the sidelines.

I ended up driving past the venue, did an illegal U turn, drove over a curb and grass field, and blasted across a dirt lot to make it to a part of the parking area where I (already dressed from changing while I drove) jumped out grabbed bike and helmet and sprinted over to the sign-in. less than 15 minutes later I was lining up for the race. 30 minutes was fun but I wished it was longer. I ended up getting sick again afterwards and instead of going to the best party of interbike I headed back to the home base for some sore throat medicine (Ice cream) and rest. Day 2 was crazy. I started late since I didn't feel like getting up and ended up straight in the Shimano line. $100 for their top end road or mountain shoes. An hour later I had my shoes and an appointment for 5:30 pm the next day. I checked out the LeMond booth where he and Phil Liggett were signing autograghs. 2 Icons of the sport.

I guess I know who Greg is voting for.

did more schmoozing and cruising the floor for many hours and then headed down to see the premier of the 9 ball diaries. It was a documentary that chronicled cyclocross star Tim Johnson's 2007 season. fun and commical. very entertaining. I attended a clinic on tuesday that Tim taught and learned a few CX tricks. I'm now a TJ fan.

I usually get back late and when I do the dogs need their excercising. So this night I suited up and did cyclocross drills across at the nearby hospital parking area under the parking lights.

day 3 commenced, and I was there early for all the last minute swag. The coolest item was given to me when I came across Allen Lim, team physiologist for the Garmin Chipotle proffessional cycling team, at the Saris cycling booth. I use their power meters for training and he is one of the gurus of power based training. I was talking to him about some of the things he has written and he tells me to hold that thought. He pops into the private area and comes out with a pint glass with Phil Liggett sayings on it. Cool, thanks Allen. He then got a phone call and we parted ways. It wasn't until later when I realized it was hand signed by Phil himself. real cool!

I did end up going over budget picking up a Lynskey titanium cyclocross frame and then getting the Alpha Q guy to sell me one of the show special forks at the show and not wait the 2 weeks.
for delivery. I'll have this ride ready for the next cross race.

It's packing time and then I'm off driving for the next couple of days. Work awaits.

interbike demo swag

2008-09-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of the outdoor demo day of InterBike was fun. Fun that is after I made it through the mess that is Vegas traffic/construction. The dogs accompanied me for the first day as I visited as many booths as possible asking questions about stuff that only a bike geek/mechanic would think of. Saw some pretty cool stuff at Shimano. The new 7900 group in both regular and electronic. I also decided on a aero bar for my TT bike after checking one out on an Orbea Ordu. The PRO carbon bar with chicane extensions, it's pretty sweet. Nikki and Axel were a big hit as they were 2 of only a few dogs that made the expo, and the only 2 brought by a retailer. They had plenty of kisses to give out to everyone that wanted one. With the expo comes the swag. As many samples of power bars, Camelback Elixer, Nuun tablets, Hammer Gel, Cytomax, and New Belgium brewery ale as one can eat/drink. You can also pick up water bottles and other samples that are offered.

Here is part of day ones small haul

Vegas

2008-09-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

well, me and the dogs made the trip down to Las Vegas and arrived today. It's hot here. the AC has been running in the airstream since I plugged into power here at the Desert Eagle campground at Nellis AFB. At $19 per day and at a safe and secure location, I can't argue. I wanted to get out and check out the Strip but I have this killer head cold that is nagging me. I went for a run with the dogs (who are crashed out) and it sapped everything I had. Drugs evry 4 hours and fluids constantly hopefully will clear me up. Tomorrow is the Interbike Outdoor Demo. I'll have some new pics from that tomorrow.

Specialized Defrosters

2008-09-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

The best thing about working at a bike shop is that I have the opportunity to pick up items that at retail pricing I would have passed up.

So today I noticed the new shoes we have in stock. Winter mtb shoes, perfect for winter commuting, training, and butt-ass cold cyclocross races in Colorado.

It won't be long before I can put these puppies to use. Morning temps have been in the low 40s.

fishing and stoves

2008-09-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while.

last weekend I headed up with the 'Stream and dogs to Alcova for some great fly fishing. Landed my largest ever on the N. Platte, a 22" rainbow. I landed only one fish under 17". The Tundra towed exceedlingly well for it's first time.

rods rigged, waiting by the door

after last year's ginormous propane bill, I've been planning on a pellet stove to provide some heating all summer. So I bought a stove and flue kit and spent yesterday installing it.

here it is on the hand cart before I started cutting holes in the walls for the vent and air intakes.

It wasn't that hard to install. I just hope I met all the code requirements.

I broke it in and tested it out. I think this will save me some dough this winter.

tomorrow is Monday. 2 more weeks till I leave for Vegas and InterBike.

I've been doing cyclocross training on my home course (back yard) I'll need to step it up for the Wheeler and Dealer Cross Vegas race on the 24th.

North Boulder Park Criterium

2008-08-19T21:25:00.001-07:00

It was last year when, for whatever reason, my body shut down early in the masters 35+ race and I dropped out and entered the Pro-1-2 race. I was doing well and then was brought to a halt 20 minutes in with a separated shoulder due to a crash.

That was a year ago. Early on I said I'd never race that course again. I lied.

The course actually suits me well. Ride near the front and stay there.

Skins had 7 riders in the race. As everyone agrred later, it was nice to see teammates in front and behind you. I was not feeling that great at first and it took me a while to get into a groove. Once I did it was too late, 3 riders had gotten away. A few riders tried to bring it back but the Green Mountain men were too much for everyone. During a sprint prime lap, which I won, I kept on going to see what I could do. It was not much and I resigned myself back to the pack after one of the above team riders would not work with me, protecting their 2 rider's lead. I did cause some commotion within the peloton apparantly and one of my teammates was dropped off the back in the accelleration. He has a good excuse to be slightly out of form though as he has recently became a new dad.

All there was to do was sit back and wait for the bell lap.

The bell lap (one lap to go) came either 1 or 2 laps early depending on who you talk to and no one was ready for it. It rang early due to the impending lapping of the field by the breakaway. I went from relaxing a bit to full on anaerobic/max heart rate sprinting to near the front when I heard "one to go". I positioned myself 2 riders behind a teammate somewhere around 10th position. With 2 corners left a gap opened up and I waited for the last corner to see if the gap would close. It didn't and I turned on my hyperdrive to try and close in on the "escapers". No such luck but I wasn't passed. I finished 10th. I won a case of Mix 1 energy drink for my earlier effort.

All in all a good race. I tried my luck in the pro-1-2 race but it was about 4o minutes after this race and the repeated accellerations did my legs in quickily and I lasted 15 minutes before pulling myself from the pain house.

One more race on pavement left, it's only the Colorado Master's championships, no big deal.

Rio Grande/Vic's Espresso Prospect Criterium

2008-08-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

With just a few road races left this season I've found some great form. Yesterday at the Rio Grande/Vic's Espresso crit in Prospect I doubled up doing the Masters 35+ race and the Pro 1-2 race 4 hours later.

Even though I was riding strong near the front during the Masters race I and a few others missed out on a breakaway that rolled off during a prime lap. A few moves to pull back the 7 riders were attempted but unsuccesful. I rolled off the front at one point and was later told I was gaining on the riders every lap. Lack of long interval training proved my downfall as I was eventually swept up again by the pack which again slowed their pace. Had the breakaway not softpedaled the last few laps they would have lapped us. I managed to finish 12th.

With such a big break between races I leashed my 2 dogs up and went over to the Two Dog Diner which serves breakfast all day. With the grilled prawn omelete standing out to me I tied the dogs to the table and sat down for a great omelete. It was a good lunch that came with a side of home fried potatoes and my choice of bread (I ordered rye but it looked and tasted more like wheat) A quick check of my watch told me that I was eating a bit later than I ought to. Luckily I was able to get most of it digested before the next race.

The Elite mens race went fast from the gun. I somehow have been always to find my way to the front in these races even when I start at the back. Must be all those years of experience. We were quickly single file as all those fresh legs started to stretch. We were just ripping through the course and those not lucky enough were shelled off the back early. I sat up near the front figuring to stay away from the back where the most of the weaker riders would open up gaps making the race harder to stay in it. All the bike commuting must be paying dividends. Because, although it was super fast, I never felt in difficulty.
Here is a YouTube video of the first corner of the race. Easily the fastest corner as it comes after a slight downhill straightaway. I come through the corner about 21st. If you listen hard enough you can hear someone yell my name. I believe this video was taken before the 3 man breakaway happened.

Early on in the race an automatic sprinkler turned on creating a hazardous corner with riders, including myself, slipping sideways. After a few cautious laps race volunteer Paul Gertler, who races masters 55+, was able to get the water diverted and squeegee the road dry. High speed cornering resumed.
With 20 minutes remaining 3 riders broke clear. I don't remember the pace ever slowing down when they went so those guys were smoking.
I followed a single rider attack in the final 10 minutes. We got a gap on the field but it didn't stick as I led the field around for a lap before falling back a bit setting up for the final few frantic laps that were to come. I had the inside line on the 3rd corner and made up a few spots as a rider lost his line and swung wide slowing down those behind him. I made a few more spots up on the next straightaway and never lost position finishing 14th.
On the warm down lap it was pretty cool experience. The crowd was cheering and clapping and we got standing ovations from the patrons seated at outdoor restaurants.
Not sure how the last couple of races will be but this was definitely a highlight for me this year.

The irony of the situation was that I didn't realize the prize list went to 15th and left with only the adrenaline rush that comes from such an effort.

So glad not to ride tonight

2008-08-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was running late this morning so I drove to the Air Force base, parked my car and rode to work. I was planning on getting some miles in after work.
The plan was good til about 6:15pm when hell broke loose and the clouds opened up to drecnh it out. I ended up getting a ride to my truck from Victor, a coworker. the road were rivers. I had only seen stuff like this on reality TV. You know, the film footage where the car tries to cross a flooding creek and gets swept downstream with the driver left clinging to a signpost waiting for help.
The most amazing sight was trying to get to my truck on base. The road leading into the base was a river flowing outward. We got close before Victor's car stalled in the high water. Eventually I ended up taking off my shoes and wading through the gate and getting a lift to my truck.
As usually happens, it never really rained at my house. Only a bit of spit.

it'll be interesting what the results of this flooding will be.

Ahhhh

2008-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's been hot here lately. In the 90s. I think Cheyenne will set a new record high this weekend. It gets cooler at night but even with fans in the windows if just cools it down to bearable.
Then an idea struck me across the forehead. My Airstream has an air conditioner, I've never tried it off of my outdoor outlet.
Ba-Da-Bing! AC!
it may be Ok outside but inside it's definitely cold. I knew I this trailer would be useful even when not on the road.
Tonight I'll sleep in air conditioned bliss. (oh, and the dogs will too)

Tomorrow is the Fed Center race and Sunday is Bannock criterium. Temps for my race time are expected to be 100.
Yee Haw. time to swipe one of those Pearl Izumi ice vests that Garmin-Chipotle use to cool the riders before races.

Hello to all my visitors!

2008-07-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonder of web tracking I'm able to see when my family, friends, teammates, and others that have stumbled onto my writings. Sometimes it's all racing related, sometimes it's travel related and sometimes I just want to vent my frustrations.

So thanks and hello to those that I believe to be behind the blog hits (feel free to correct me)

to Mishawaka Indiana (my sister Michele)

to Warner Robins Georgia (my sister Chris)

to Chicago Illinois (my brother Pat who I talked through a shifter overhaul on the the phone)

to Denver Colorado (I think that the tracker must be off 'cause I think it should read Evergreen Colorado representing my teammated CF)

to Broomfield Colorado (my teammate (and brother from another mother (Brad) and father of the sticker adorners on my frame)

to Fort Collins Colorado (those Rio Grande riders that will soon be tearing up the scene, if Skins allows it)

To Missoula Montana (my ex brother in arms, that will soon move to the Springs, Kevin P)

and to Port Jervis New York (post a response so I know who you are. I'm betting on a fellow Airstreamer)

Hope y'all like my attempts at WWW exposure.

Hot racing at Leaning Tree

2008-07-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hot as in heat. It was in the upper 90's during my first race today. I spent most of the last 2 days ensuring that I would be well hydrated for my 2 midday races. With the heat I didn't feel much like racing but it all changed at the start. I rode well but due to my lack of longer interval training I was unable to catch the winning breakaway. I held on and won the field sprint for 9th. It was a very nice sprint if I do say so myself. A little over an hour later I lined up for the Pro-1-2 race with the intention of staying sheltered in the middle and finishing. I found myself spending a lot of energy going flat out trying to stay on a wheel midway back so I moved up toward the front. At first it was easier because I was able to match the accelerations when they happened. But after a while I realized that less riders in front of me meant riding harder in the wind. After 35 minutes I decided to drop out. I found out later that a lot of riders dropped out before I did so I felt pretty good about it. All this doubling up is giving me some good training leading up to the final month of racing. I will be taking it a bit easy this week as I'm not racing next weekend. Time to go out and enjoy some miles without pressure.

Lap Dog

2008-07-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

I finally was able to get a "race" photo that was clear and in focus. Here's Axel and I enjoying a moment while watching the womens race.

Longmont Crit

2008-07-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Suffering is how I would describe the day.
I haven't felt this tired from putting it all out in a race in a long time.
let's start from the morning
I woke up very early (for me) at 5:30am to prepare my coffee, eat some breakfast, and watch some Tour de France action.
I loaded up the dogs and left for the race a little after 6. Mind you, I almost never rise before 7am.
Zoomed on down to Longmont for the 22nd annual criterium.
It's one of my favorites courses and is shaped like an L with 6 corners.
First race up was the 35+ race. I've been showing some good form for no apparent reason and liked my chances at a good finish in this race. The absence of one of the major teams really made for a different race. With the exception of RMCEF their was no real team to control the race. I stayed up near the front for most of the race. I was feeling pretty good and with 5 laps to go, when the pace quickened, I was ready. Unfortunately, with 2 laps to go I was boxed out, fell pretty far back and had to fight my way back to the front just in time for the finish. I ended up 11th , my teammates did well, Larry finished in front of me at 7th, TR, DK, and Carter finished right behind me not far back. No one was involved in a crash, unlike last week which claimed the bikes and skin of DK and, my brother from another mother, Brad.
I felt pretty wasted after this race. Much more so than last weekends race. So my decision to race a second, Faster, race needed some serious thinking.
I rode around a bit and decided why not. It'll be good training.
The senior Pro 1-2 race was also a Colorado State Championships race. Hopefully I can last 30 minutes again like last week, I thought.
The race started out very smooth and seemingly not very fast. But it heated up a bit when the attacks to form a breakaway started reeling off. I found myself sitting comfortably somewhere in the middle to the back of the peloton. I quickly ran out of liquids because, after all, I was only going to be out here for a short while. I bummed a half empty bottle from an ex teammate and refueled. I had gone 30 minutes so far and was not feeling bad. 60 minutes in and I was still feeling great. At this point I was happy with my ride. If I dropped now it was no big deal. At 70 minutes, 15 minutes to go I was feeling tired and dehydrated. Every lap through the start finish I started to look for the 5 laps to go signal. The refs must have been sleeping at one point because the sign read 11 minutes to go and I thought, great only 6 more laps. But on the next lap it stilled showed 11 minutes. Damn, this is killing me. Finally 5 laps to go came and we were all together. This is when the pace turned hot and my legs started showing the wear of over 2 hours of racing. I finally popped off the back at 3 laps to go, did one more lap on my own and then called it a day. I rolled to my teammates tent and collapsed. I was spent. I had rode 67 miles including warmup at an average speed of over 25 mph for the day. After a few beers compliments of Left Hand Brewery's beer garden and a couple of enormous cinnamin rolls from a local cafe I headed back home. Mission completed, time to recover for next weeks races.

Le Tour

2008-07-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

I, like many cycling aficionados, suffer from Letouritis during the month of July. Indicative symptoms are

Increased time spent watching Versus.
More time spent surfing CyclingNews.com and VeloNews online.
Less attentive at work during early morning Live online feeds.
Talking about seeing a rider on clearly a non sponsors bike/wheels/components.
Talking about seeing a rider on the newest, not yet released for public components.
Being late for work because of a finish you just had to see on live TV.

Did I leave something out?

Niwot Criterium, Whoo Hoo!

2008-07-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty good after 1 race and 30 minutes of another. No cramps or tight muscles, just as much power as my legs could put out and no more.
In the 35+ race I rode well and even though it rained a bit I never succumbed to the crashes that started littering the field. I found myself hoping the rain would never stop as it was keeping me in the race well positioned because I was taking lines through the corners that others were not so confident on in the wet. Unfortunately the rain stopped and the road dried up making for a fast last 5 laps. I ended up running out of steam on the last lap and finished 18th. Not bad but it could have been better.
I ended up doing the Pro 1-2 race for an extra effort to help speed along my 2nd half season fitness. I hung pretty tough for having already raced once, eventually dropping off the back with another rider with whom I traded pulls with before pulling myself out before the lead moto caught us. 30 minutes of intensity, about 15 more than I was hoping for.

This is my favorite time of the season with all my favorite races. Next week is Longmont, another good race. It even has a beer garden.

unbelievable recovery

2008-06-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Only 2 weeks ago I suffered an injury that at the time was set to derail the rest of my cycling season.
Initially told that I would be off the bike for 4-6 weeks, I prepared myself for the worse. After a week in a sling I was told by the orthopedist that I shold heal fine with time and to try and get as much movement back as was pain allowable. That day, without thinking, I jumped on a bike to verify a customers complaint of poor shifting.
Whoa, I'm riding a bike I thought.
So last Sunday I tested the shoulder on the bike. First on the indoor trainer (OK no pain) and then outside. A little weak but no real pain after 2 hours.
I decided that the weekends stage race, at least the road race, was doable and proceeded to get some more miles in to fully get the shoulder ready for the race.
What started out as not being able to raise my arm above my shoulder pain free on Monday turned into a mostly pain free shoulder by this weekend. Why the improvement? I can't say.

Dead Dog stage race
I rode the road race and finished exactly where I did last year, about 15 minutes down on the leaders. Not being a climber I was happy with it.
The Criterium went better and I finished 8th. Time to work on the upper end power, so I can do better in the upcoming races.
At the time trial I borrowed a teammates TT bike and turned in a decent time for having not been doing any tt races this year.
Next weekend Niwot Criterium

Touch my truck again and I'll f'n kill you

2008-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

I will limit my anger to this short post. Someone keyed my new truck Friday at the bike shop. I'll put money on it that it was one of the teen f#%koffs that "work" there.
There is a chance that it wasn't (0.5%), but I doubt it.

I'm seriously considering another job move and letting the service shop sink and deal with the lack of a manager. Within the month I'll make a decision to move on or not. I've worked too long around competent individuals and this is my only regret to employment outside the military.

on a better note, I'll try to get some miles on the road tomorrow.

2008-06-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Due to injury, I sped up the proposed purchase of a new vehicle. Unable to ride I had to rely on automotive transportation to get around. My Tacoma was a manual transmission. Not ideal when I'm not sure when I'll be able to use my right arm.

A few phone calls and a heckuva deal later I was driving down the road in my new Tundra.

Very sweet!

Sore and alive

2008-06-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well looking back on my accident I can be thankfull that it wasn't worse. My body would have been draged off the trail by a mtn lion and no one would have found my body.

I'm looking forward to the Ortho/MRI visit to make sure all is well for a speedy recovery.

in the meantime here are a couple of pics pre accident

for those of you wondering, the Stumpy got off with a chewed up grip and brake lever, no other apparent damages.

Lucky bastard.

Season Over

2008-06-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today marked a dramatic turn-around in my cycling season. Through my own fault of not turning the "Brain" setting on my Stumpjumper 3 clicks off of the full firm setting I was thrown hard to the ground on a steep downhill section. I had run this section 5 times prior with no problems. Having the setting full firm made my bike handle likje a bucking bronco on the dirt berms that are set up to prevent 4wheelers from climbing the hill.

End result was a non correctable launch off the 3rd berm upside down. I landed on my right shoulder hard enough and painfully enough to believe that I had broken my collar bone.

After a 3/4 mile walk I encountered Gary and his 3 dogs that graciously assisited me. Not only did he drive me to the ER, but he also gave my dogs water as they awaited my return to the trailer. I was very lucky, as I was way back from help and no cell phone, to have crossed paths with Gary.

He runs the taxidermy shop in Cheyenne if you ever need some work done.

The doctor at the ER after looking at the x-rays informed me that I had endured a grade 2 shoulder separation.
I was looking at 4-6 weeks off the bike. End of season.
He's a cyclist himself and told me most cyclists take only 4 weeks due too their high level of fitness and health.
I was only dabbling into the purchase of a new Tundra (automatic trans, more power to tow, and huge rebate) but now it may be a neccessity.

Stay tuned for updates, I still need to see an orthopedic specialist and have an MRI to ensure there is no damage that needs surgury.

Weekend getaways

2008-06-13T21:06:00.001-07:00

I'm off again in the Airstream for another weekend of relaxation and riding. Till the regular racing season resumes I'm enjoying these days.
If I can find where I placed my camera I may even take some pics of the washed and waxed 'Stream.

Yes Carter, the Lakers will lose.

Cubs on Fire and Lakers suck

2008-06-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

Chicago Cubs are ripping it this year. Go Cubs! (are you happy sis?)

And as an avowed Kobe/Laker Hater, Go Celtics!

Wind was at 30mph with gusts in the 40s out of the west while I was riding home this evening. I think I got up to 14 mph on a steep downhill.

the weekend

2008-06-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

While some teammates were out doing the Colorado State Time Trial championships I was pre-riding the Laramie Enduro course.
I towed the Silver Bullet up to the summit at about 8700 feet Friday night and setup for the early 8am ride start (early for me as on weekends I usually get the sleep that I miss during the week).
I powered up the trailer for AC using my truck converter to enjoy some TV before heading off to sleep. I need to find a 1000 or 2000 Honda generator in the future.
Day broke and I let the pups out for their morning romp while I enjoyed breakfast and ESPN radio.
It was chilly but calm and I suited up for 30 miles of fun.
I met the others at the Tie City trailhead after riding about 20 minutes of warmup. There were about 40 riders of varying abilities and rides. Full suspensions, rigid and suspended single speeds, and many 29ers.
The fitter/faster riders is where I fell in and we quickly separated ourselves from the others in a group of 10 or so before we held up at the first turn onto a single track (Windy-Windy trail) through a closed fence. This went on for most of the ride. The faster riders separating themselves from the rest. I somehow found myself always at or near the front. Able to stay with whoever was on the front be it climbs or single track. At one stop I mentioned that I hoped to finish the race in 7 hours and another rider who said he did it in just over 7 hours said that the way I was riding I would have no problem. I hope he's right.
I finished the ride Saturday with a ride up the arduous Headquarters Trail finish. Definitely a section that will be hard after 65 miles or so of race. I'll be using my cyclocross skills on the really rocky sections to not lose time.
After making it back to the 'stream. I let the dogs out while I relaxed. I had rode fairly hard (actually really hard for me) and was dead tired.
I got in touch with my teammates that rode the State TT to see if we would have a jersey to show off to our sponsors but no such luck. The categories we race in are so competetive that if you win you are sure to have a good run at Nationals if you choose to go there.
I may have a go at it next year when I get the new bike but we'll see.
Sunday: 2nd half of the Enduro pre-ride and also a baby shower/party for my teammate KOB. I had already planned on the pre-ride weeks before the party that I had excused myself. that and the price of gas just to drive down to Evergreen would have been a present in itself to show up.
I slept 12 hours the night before and was still tired. I got up at 6 and had breakfast, fed the dogs, and waited for daylight to warm the area. It had rained for about 6 hours the previous afternoon/night. It was still damp outside but the worst item was the wind. It was whipping. I hadn't seen this on the weather forecast. It was so bad that the trailer was rocking and the dog crates had blown into the truck and a few yards past. I was in no mood to rush out into the 40 degree temps with 30 degree windchills to ride the 2nd half of the course that included at least 1 high water crossing (there were 2 up to the chamois and many other lesser crossings)
I went back to sleep and eventually slept until 10:30. I must have been dead tired.
I think I should do this more often on non race weekends. It allows me to unwind/relax more than I thought possible.
I eventually rode the course backward to the start of the days ride to hear the stories of the return riders. Tales of frozen feet and water up to the chamois were the norm. Eventually I rode back the 8 miles that me and the dogs rode out and crashed at the 'stream again.
I made it back home where the grass had grown another couple of inches and were awaiting shortness by lawnmower. A couple of hours later and not nearly enough grass cut (I should really buy a riding lawnmower) I headed inside to watch the Cubs defeat the Dodgers and the Celtics pull out another home win.
Back to work to earn the $ for a Honda generator.

rain for 2 days, really

2008-06-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

A day of rain coupled with a strained knee ligament (the product of sprint intervals and not enough post ride stretching) has allowed me a day or 2 of no pedaling. But with bikes piled to the ceiling at work waiting for tune-ups and what not I've had no room to enjoy it. My acreage should be plenty green when this weathe is all over.

Dirt Weekend

2008-06-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

2 days of riding the Stumpjumper on parts of the Enduro course in preparation for the pain to come. 70 miles and tons of climbing over 2 days have left me feeling strangely... stronger. after day one I was really tired and sore. but after day 2 I felt great, just a little tired. I even took a sprint around the A loop of single track at Curt Gowdy state park on a S-Works Epic compliments of Specialized bikes demo unit. That bike performed like a true race horse and even though I was tired, I easily rode my fastest lap ever for the 5 mile loop. I usually never rave about a bike much as I generally think of them as tools to reach the finish line. Some are stiffer, some are lighter, and some ride smoother than others. I really don't think it matters much as long as you are properly sized to the bike and you like the ride. I think this is the first bike I ever rode in which I was raving for minutes after getting off of it. I am so stoked that I have a job that allows me to get the best equipment in the sport I love at cost or below. I can't wait til January so I can get an '09 S-Works Epic. Time to start selling all the other bikes in preparation.

Night riding

2008-05-28T22:29:00.001-07:00

I rode 1.5 hours tonight in the fog. With my Night Rider TriNewt headlamp there were no worries. It's so bright that cars dim their lights now for me.
I find it humorous when a car waits before pulling onto the road when I'm approaching because he thinks that I am a motorcycle or car.
It's 480 lumens on the high mode which I rarely use because it if so bright. The SPecialized rep was telling me today about a new Light in Motion light that puts out over 700 lumens in a lighter package. If I can get it for a good discount price I'll be adding this to my lighting arsenal for riding trails at night.

Memorial day weekend

2008-05-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

Loaded up the Bambi Thursday for an early Friday afternoon departure from work. I ended up working an hour longer than I wanted and got on the road at 2pm head for Buffalo Creek (en route thru Denver traffic). Stopping for gas at the Flying J before crossing into Colorado I was stuck behind some yahoo that must have been filling 100 gal side tanks of diesel before having to pay by cash at the register causing a longer delay.

This was my view for 20 minutes

Nice view huh?

150 miles later I arrived at the group campground. Not a bad drive after the gas line wait.

Being early I was able to setup near Chuck, the organizer of the weekend's camper. This put me near the keg.

Setting up the Stream I had endless encounters with the others already there on wanting to tour the living quarters. I left the door open intentionally for the rest of the arrivals to check out Bambi. I felt like an Airstream rep showing off all the features. Everyone loved it.

There where plenty of other dogs and dog lovers to keep Nikki and Axel occupied. They also got to run the trails as we did parts of the Colorado Trail and Gashouse trail to keep them in energetic check.

Saturday, after the girls group ride, Matt (a Skins teammate and my inviter in this shindig) and I took off for a ride on the Colorado trail. We went from the camp to the wilderness boundary, back to camp, to the parking area at the highway, and back to camp. Somewhere around 30 miles of single track and lots (LOTS) of climbing.

Matt is a climbing phenom. He came close to a stage win at the Tour of the Gila this year and was the highest placed Skins rider at the Dead Dog road race last year.

I don't try to compete with him when the road turns up. For the most part this is what I saw.

It was usually on singletrack but you get the picture.

\On Sunday, Matt, his wife Kat, friends Joe and ?, and I headed out and rode the course for next weeks mountain bike time trial race that would be held there.

It will be a fairly entertaining (and hard) course and I would love to do it if I wasn't committed to a friends B-Day party that day.

Here is a pic of Kat and friend behind Matt, Joe and I.

Fun stuff came to an end when I had to pack up and head back home.

Work was calling for Monday.

Matt's family accomodations

Tornados!

2008-05-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

You may have seen TWC, CNN, or a major networks news talking about the bad weather that hit northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. Many tornadoes and funnel clouds later I (my dogs, cats, and property too) can breath a sigh of relief. We were missed. Others nearby were not so lucky.
ride obn

Wheels of Thunder/ Coal Miners Classic

2008-05-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

after a week of hardly any riding due to weather and other stuff I had a weekend of races. I lasted only 42 minutes of a 60 min race on Saturday. It was to be expected. Then with much thought I decided to race Sunday even if I get shelled off the back early (a costly race given that it's $30 and gas is $3.65 and it's 200 miles round trip)
I did better than expected even though I couldn't hold a position near the front of the race for more than 1/4 a lap and even thought about dropping 20 minutes into the 60 minute affair. I had a last lap adrenaline surge that found me move up to 4th wheel through the first corner that I maintained til just before the last corner. I finished 13th which was 9th in the field sprint to the line as there was a breakaway that finished right before us. Not bad for not being in prime form yet.

To maintain the intesity it may be hard as there are no races that I'm planning on doing in the next 6 weeks
31 May Hugo: Drive all that way (410 milesround trip) for an 80 mile training race? I don’t think so
1 June City Park: 7:30 start time for Masters? Maybe the Pro-1-2 painfest at 12:30
7&8 June State TT and a Hill Climb? Nope good luck to the rest of the team
14&15 June Glenwood Springs: If I can get time off to travel I would like to do these otherwise another dead weekend
21&22 Rist Canyon RR and Hill Climb: Probably not unless my power to weight ratio is >4
and 6 weeks later…
28&29 Dead Dog SR: FINALLY this race I will do

Then July at last. Almost a race every weekend for me.
Bring on July!!

Celebrity status

2008-05-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

I'm driving into work and I get a phone call. It's a friend telling me I looked good in the newspaper.
"Oh yeah, I was wondering when that was going to run. Where's it posted?"
"On the front page, large photo of you and a wheel"
Great, I'd better get a copy so I can prepare for the ribbing I'm going to recieve.

The day before I was entertaining the news/camera man while working away on some bikes. The paper was going to run an article on the the high price of gas driving people to seek alternative modes of transportation.
I had no idea when this was going to show. I thought maybe next week or the weekend.

Throughout the day at work people would come in and say things like "I saw you in the paper" "sign any autographs copies yet" "you represented the shop well"
and my favorite "you're that guy in the paper"

I didn't think Cheyenne was that small that I'd see that kind of reaction, guess I was wrong.

From what I can tell about the photo, I think I won the stare down match between the wheel and me.

Ouch!

2008-05-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

Working late hours means you have to train when you can. Tonight meant an hour training ride on the Mtn bike with the new lighting system. I decided to get the dogs out for a few miles first. this meant riding a loop that we normally do in the daylight. Unfortunatly I decided to change the loop up without telling the dogs. Approaching an inersection at near 20mph I decided to go straight. I remember a blur as Nikki streaked into my lighting area. Next thing was me rolling on the ground after I hit my head and hip. So much for an evening ride. Riding home on adrenaline, I made it home where I assessed damages.
Abbrasions to the left hip, lump on the back of my head, arm sore and back a bit sore but sure to be worse tomorrow.
Oh, and the bike suffered a scratch on the pedal cap and grip. Otherwise no worse for wear.

time to heal

Snow on Saturday

2008-05-10T09:38:00.001-07:00

It's Saturday. It's one of the days I get to spend all day doing whatever I want.

I wanted to hit the trails on my new Stumpjumper.

It's 30 degreees, 30 mph winds, and it's SNOWING.

Tomorrow is going to be in the upper 60's. I'll have to go to bed early and wake up early to enjoy the weather.

Bikes and Maintenance

2008-05-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

Work has been busy. I like it but it has its drawbacks. Long hours, minimal break time, arriving home in the dark with a dead headlamp having switched to the backup, emergency, single LED light that is kept in my pocket.

The positives. Working at a job I enjoy, helping other cyclists make purchases based on actual user experiences, and employee discounts.

After waiting over a week for my new Stumjumper to arrive I found out that the order had been canceled by the higher ups due to the fact that there were less than 10 available in the US. Once we found that out I started to look at the Trek Fuel 9.5 ( a sweet ride with full XTR). It only took one call from the general manager to say that I was going to go with a Trek since the Specialized wasn't available to get the regional sales manager involved and release a bike to me. Not just any bike, but one of only 200 produced in a special edition "raw" paint scheme. It must be only available to UK and foreign markets for the most part because that is where I found pics of it. Raw nude carbon frame with gold accents

I've been told by our Specialized rep that it is much nicer looking than the standard issued color. From what I can tell I will not see another bike in this color in the states.

This morning I sent off my order to Night Rider for their TriNewt lighting system. With all the darkness riding I've been doing I can easily justify the expense (employee discount helps). At almost 500 lumens I hope to make those cars that refuse to dim their lights pay the price. I'll be able to ride trails with the dogs at night also with this level of lighting.

My brother Pat in Chicago dealt with my over phone maintenance of his Mtn Bike that wasn't shifting. after about an hour on the phone I thinks he's got it. I'll find out the first time he goes out for a ride or reads this blog.

first weekend in may

2008-05-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Got through a weekend of good weather and no races cleaning house.
I started my Saturday early, 6:30am, when I found out that Nikki couldn't control her bladder while lying on the bed. After stripping off all my linens and comforter covers and throwing them in the wash I went back to bed and slept until 9:30. After breakfast I spent some time putting up a new ceiling fan to replace an ugly chandelier light that was hanging in the area that would be the dining area if I ever wanted it to be. Set up sprinklers for the dry grass and trees and Got out the Specialized Stumpjumper Test Bike that I took from the shop since my bike hadn't arrived yet. I tired the dogs out with a fast hour ride. That was my Saturday.
Sunday was cleanup day for all the stuff that had been accumulating over the past 2 weeks on my counters and bedroom floor. But not before I had loaded the dogs up and drove up the road to Curt Gowdy state park for some mtn biking with the test bike. This time it was a fast 2 hours on single track and climbs tiring the dogs and me out. Then it was back to town to gas up and return the bike as I would be commuting by bike most of the week and it's kinda hard to carry a bike on my shoulders while riding 20 miles. Got back home and cleaned up the rest of the house.
Now it's time for bed and the start of another week of work.

Primus Mootry crit

2008-04-27T19:24:00.001-07:00

Another early season (or is this mid season for me?) race held in an office park between Boulder and Longmont. I had much better hopes for this race since it's been a month since I returned to altitude and it was basically as flat and wide open as they come. I was the lone Skins racer as some of my teammates opted to double up and race 45+ and 3s.

The weather was cool enough that I decided to race in knee and arm warmers. It would later warm up to 70 after my race.

I started out well feeling better than I have in a while. There were a few early moves but nothing stuck until halfway through the 50 minute race 2 riders went clear. 2 laps later Bob Dahl of team Excel Sports attacks and gets a Mob rider to go with him. They bridge up and I waited to see what the reaction from the field would be. After seeing no movement I hit the afterburners to try to bridge up solo. I came close, within a couple of seconds, before my lack of intensity training kicked in and I fell back to the field. I lasted 2 laps in no man’s land. It was a good effort and I got lots of cheers which really helped out in the end when I was really hurting to catch the leaders. The Mob riders effectively shut down the race behind. None of the other riders had teammates and really profited from this generosity. I sat in and waited for the final few laps debating to attack again with 1.5 laps left but someone beat me to it. Good thing I didn’t go as we caught and passed him before the line. In fact we almost caught the leaders as they had slowed significantly in a game of cat and mouse. I was mid pack when I passed the last corner but was able to find the right wheel to pull me past most of the field to finish 17th.

My teammates in the cat 3 race did well with some interesting happenings.

TR broke a spoke and made an illegal pitstop at his car to change a wheel and in his haste he forgot to close the quick release skewer. His rear wheel basically fell out when I picked up his bike to move it after the race. Thank goodness he didn't sprint all out, he might have taken the whole field out.

CF and some other riders were taken out in the final kilometer by some young'n riding stupidly. He ended up with a taco for a wheel.

KOB was back up to prime form as was DK who unfortunately led the field around the last corner which was 350 meters too soon.

Garrett, a day after having to shoot pics at the Nuggets/Lakers game the night before, raced the 35+ cat 4 race and finished in the pack.

all in all a fairly good day for the crew.

My next race is in 2 weeks.

Snow still?!?

2008-04-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Woke up today to blowing snow. Will this ever stop?

It warmed up to 43 today so at least it disappeared and allowed me to get in a quick outdoor spin with the dogs. I had to have them burn off some energy after I found they had caught a bunny to play with. Unfortunately the bunny did not last as long as a dog chew toy. Poor bunny, next time stay away from my bushes and flowers.

My new Stumpjumper hasn't arrived yet but I did grab a new bike from the shop. It's an '07 Specialized Sirrus Sport that had been sitting on the floor. I've been trying to sell this to people as the ultimate commuter (which it is), but even with a discounted price for last years stock no takers. It's a aluminum road bike with carbon fork and seat stays and a flat bar like a mtn bike. Handles like a bike messenger bike in NYC. It's a blast to ride. I'll try the work commute on it Monday. Pictures as soon as I find my camera.
Tomorrow is a pancake flat criterium. I hope to feel better about myself after that race.

Work and racing

2008-04-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

In the last post I mentioned a follow up to Sunday's race, after a busy week of work I forgot that I hadn't posted anything.

The AST criterium in Golden Colorado was a blast. Got together with most of my team and flashed some Skins power. Unfortunately, my power was short lived (re-aclimation phase) and my teammates were unable to bring down a top 10 finish. Afterwards we had our Team Photographer, Mark Woolcot, shoot our team shots. We then headed out to our various assignments that we had volunteered for as co sponsor of the race. Some of us even had a go at a second race (me included) and did well (I got shelled after 3 laps of the Pro race).

Monday I arrived at work to find about 2 dozen repairs awaiting me. As service manager you would think that I would have someone there to assist me. Well I do for about 3 hours when the youths get out of school. I'm not complaining, I like the challenge. Although I am looking forward to when I pick up another day mechanic late May. One of the busiest days so far was this Friday. I went into work at 9:30am and left @ 7:30pm. I didn't have one break, it was fun.

I'm on my way to owning a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Pro Carbon compliments of the employee purchasing program at the bike shop. This will replace the '04 Epic that I sold tonight.

I've already commited my entry into the Laramie Enduro to break it in at a race setting.

It occurs the same week as the Salida Omnium that I won 2 years ago when I raced as a 35+ cat 4 rider. I have no intentions of racing that race in the open 35+ category until I grow wings on my back.

Tomorrow (or is it today) I'm headed down to Boulder to ride with the team up to Ward.

Sounds Fun

L8r

Work, snow, and altitude

2008-04-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

3 days after returning from my trip I landed a job as the service manager at a local bike shop. This was the type of job I was looking for - fun, challenging, and a change of pace. I'm once again a productive member of society.
Then last Sunday was my first race back at altitude. It did not go too well as I was dropped early and fought my way alone for most of the race.
Now it seems my last name must be Jones because since I have returned with my shiny new trailer 2 of my nieghbors have gone out and bought new travel trailers (not Airstreams though)
in the 2 weeks that I have been back I believe it has snowed 6 or more of those days.
Tomorrow I'll post today's race results in Golden CO

Home again

2008-03-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

After travelling almost 5000 miles with a trailer and a few hundred more miles of sidetrips with the truck I returned last Saturday. If I had known what kind of weather was on the horizon I would have just stayed at my parents house in Indiana.

The day after my return greeted me with this white stuff that I had all but forgotton about.

Time to think about moving south

More Georgia racing

2008-03-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

10 miles from my sisters house was the "EPIC PERRY-ROUBAIX - Georgia Cup Series 7" in Perry Georgia.

I skipped the morning time trial in favor of the circuit and road race. It wasn't a stage race so time didn't matter. I got in a nice warmup ride to the course. My sister Chris, husband Shack, niece Katie, and a few of the local riders I had been riding with including Felix - a rider I new from my days in Germany. No pressure at all on me to do well :-). Race was 20 laps of a 1.35 mile loop. Pace was fairly civilized because of the TT many of the riders had done less than 3 hours earlier. I took a flier off the front to chase down a lone rider early on just to stretch my legs before sitting in and waiting. With no teammates there was no need to react to any of the attacks. There where others willing to do the work. I was focused on the final sprint to the finish and would save my legs for then. 2 riders ended up crossing the line before the field (1 guy, a track rider took off with 4 to go and soloed to a win) I was able to grab wheels near the front for a leadout coming around the final turn. Unfortunately the rider in front of me pulled off with 300 meters to go leaving me with a clear road into a headwind to the finish. I was nipped by 2 other riders at the line fiinishing 5th overall, 2nd 40+. This meant a podium spot for me.

Sunday Was the "Epic Perry-Roubaix" road race. It's styled like many of the early season races in the US after the Paris-Roubaix race in France which consists of cobblestone and dirt sections that are really nasty when it rains as in this YouTube video.

I started the day with another 10 mile warmup ride to the course feeling pretty good. The overnight thunderstorms had left some moisture still on the road and I was wondering how the dirt section would be. The course is 12.4 miles with 2 bothersome climbs back to back coming within the first 2 miles after the start. The “Roubaix” part is the 2 miles of slippy, softening mud/dirt road that comes at about 5 miles (this was my favorite part). Well the race started fast at over 30 mph approaching the first climb. My legs were not feeling spry but the pace slackened to a manageable pace on the climb. The pace picked back up after the climbs, and on the dirt I rode 3rd wheel. In fact every lap through the dirt I rode at the front, partly to lessen the amount of mud on my face but mostly because I kept having visions of mid 80’s Paris – Roubaix with the music of John Tesh running through my mind powering me on.
8 riders attacked at the start of the second lap and the way my legs were feeling, I was not going to join them on their assault of the hills. The race pretty much got shut down then with 2 strong teams represented in the break. So for the next 4 laps to the finish (except for a half lap where a couple of jacka$$es jumped in the passing break from the cat 3 field and we ended up going full tilt in pursuit to slap them around for their wrongdoing) it was a fast training ride. My legs started cramping with a lap and ¾ left and my whole lower body was burning with pain from various muscle aches. I even entertained thoughts of dropping out but decided to give it one last go on the climbs and if I cramp then it’s over. Somehow I made it through the climbs and was able to shift all focus to the final 1km run into the finish to win the field sprint.

With a long 1km straight away to the finish I again made it up near the front and chose a wheel that looked best. Speed was winding up again and I was sure I had the right position this time. But with 300 meters that rider died and once again I was in no mans land. “Oh crap, not again”, I thought as I opened it up. I couldn’t even keep it going hard out of the saddle and sat down and continued to pour on everything I had fully expecting to be passed.

I wasn’t.

It felt good, even though I wasn’t first I had still beaten out the rest.

I was 9th overall and was the 6th 40+ Master rider.

and unlike Colorado racing, I took home $75

Rain and sickness

2008-03-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

It was just a matter of time before I succumbed to a cold, stuffy head, cough, runny nose feeling. It's been going on since late Tuesday. After a 2.5 hour ride yesterday I'm glad that is is raining today. Hopefully I can regain some semblance of form for next weekend. This cold is killing me.

Pedal Harder

2008-03-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

Got through the opening weekend of Georgia racing without a scatch.
Loaded up the dogs, my sister Chris, and my niece Katie for the drive south to Albany where we stayed at the Parks at Chehaw. A quiet park with a wild animal zoo that was designed by Jim Fowler (TVs Wild Animal Kingdom). Too bad there was no time for the zoo.

Albany Georgia 1-2 March
First race was a prologue TT of 3.6km containing 8 corners through a downtown circuit. I wish I could have pre-ridden the course because I almost hit the 3rd turn barriers because I was going too fast. This of course probably caused me to brake a little more than I needed to on some of the subsequent corners before I regained confidence. Not fast enough as I finished 14th some 30 seconds back.

Second race was a 45minute +3laps criterium 3 hours later. It was a figure 8 course with uphills into the wind. Team One/Memorial Health with 6 riders put on heavy pressure with attacks and counterattacks trying to get their riders free of the peloton. The breakaways were always shutdown after a lap and after a while the attacks ceased with just the normal accelerations on the hill to try and shed riders. With 3 laps to go I was sitting in up near the front, just where I wanted to be for the final lap. In Colorado the pace would be blistering and it would be near impossible to move up. Hearing the bell signifying 1 lap remaining I was feeling good. Then a kink was thrown in the cog. The riders slowed up after the first corner allowing everyone to move up on both sides of me. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I spent the next 2 corners riding all out, even cutting across the sidewalk at one point. I was unable to jump on the back of the Team One leadout train as we turned the 6th corner and ended up 15th.
Sunday was a 97Km road race. It was fast at times but nothing I couldn't handle. With less than 12 miles to go it looked like a serious threat up the road a ways with 2 riders, 1 from Team One/Memorial Health. The gap was growing. Banking on his teammates to shut down any chase I launched solo from the pack in pursuit of the 2 riders. I was feeling good and settled into a good rhythm closing the gap pretty well before we approached the first of 2 hills which put me in trouble. I had already caught one rider and he was struggling to keep my wheel so he was of no help. We were eventually swept up by the field and shortly thereafter so was the lone rider. About 5 miles I had held off the pack. I felt pretty good about that. The thing I found most frustrating was the riders that would sit in the front of the field with no teammate in the breakaway and not lend chase. “Move the F over!” I think I pissed off a few riders in the final miles because of the names I was calling some of the riders. Oh well, I call it like I see it. What part of pedal harder don’t you understand? I mean, why are you sitting up letting 6 riders roll off the front when you have nothing in there? The gap was never closed down and the field officially finished 12 seconds back. If there had been no gap I would have finished 9th overall. Instead the revised results show me at 11th after applying the time bonuses they forgot to initially put in.

Oh, and get this there were only 2 portajohns at the road race start for 300 riders, they are the ones used by the soccer fields. Toilet paper ran out in the first 15 minutes. I never saw the portaJs at the crit, lucky for them there were plenty around the start of the marathon that ran the same day.

To Quote my teammate Brad, these guys practice "Southern Charm" riding. Alerting others as to the approacing potholes, "braking" or "slowing", letting other riders back move back into the sheltered strung out lineup instead of forcing them to the back of the pack.

I can deal without all the "nice guy" etiquette, this is stuff you rarely here in Colorado.

Check out the retro Look colors on this turtle

Louisiana

2008-02-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

After a full day of driving to get out of Texas, by full day that includes numerous stops for dogs and driver activities, I arrived at Barksdale AFB (Shreveport LA). The plan was to get a few days of riding in before driving to a race in Alabama then on to Georgia. For once the weather in Cheyenne is looking better than the road trip weather. 54 and partly sunny in Cheyenne, 57 and 60% chance of heavy thunderstorms in La. That and I doubt Cheyenne has mosquitoes or 90% humidity.

If by chance it isn't raining in the morning, I hope to get in a couple of hours before me and the dogs go looking for hibernating aligators.

here's an image of my dogs looking their saddest at having to wait in the car while I time trial. At least Nikki is trying. Axel is deciding if it is worth being scolded jumping over the tailgate or not.

Life after VOS

2008-02-19T18:38:00.001-08:00

Wow, so much has happened in the last 2 weeks.
Raced McDowell Mtn regional park circuit race (2 cats), Old Town Scottsdale criterium (10th -40+), and then Valley of the Sun Stage Race. Lots of fun and suffering.
I'm now on the road to Georgia.
Texas is a major crossing. I drove most of the day from Las Cruces and now find myself outside of Abilene at a rest stop for the night (with free wireless internet access!!!)
The dogs have been patient with me so far. It helps that we stop every 100 miles or so to get out and play. Of course that doesn't help my drive time. But it's better than having 2 amped kids when I do finally stop for the night.
Well I hope to make it out of Texas tomorrow. Nothing wrong with Texas, I just want to get back on the bike and stretch my legs.

First Race '08

2008-02-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

I got through my first race of the year. It was a training race at a Phoenix parking lot. The A race started last and that gave me plenty of time to warm up and jump on the back of the other races for measure. Start time was just before sunset and they were turning on the lights at the announcers table. Too bad there wasn't that much light on the rest of the course. At high speeds riding in the middle of the bunch in the dark, I was not confident enough that I could react quick enough to avoid any possible pile-up. So, I spent most of the race sitting on the back except when the gaps started to open forcing me to bridge. I was not going to finish out of the field. There was a Rock Racing pro rider there spending his layover time between flights lapping the field. He was on his way to the Tour of California. I felt pretty good for not having done any structured intervals or stuff like that to get me ready. Not wanting to mix it up in the sprint, I just slipped off and rolled across the line with Mike the Rock Racing rider. He was pretty cool.

Saturday and Sunday will bring more chances at testing my fitness.

The dogs are enjoying themselves as long as they stay on the road and off the cactus needles that I am continuingly pulling out of their paws

Much Warmer

2008-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

got in a great ride today as the sky cleared and the temps went up. 3 hours of riding at less than 1800 feet feels like cheating after living at 6600' and riding the last week at over 5000'.
Last night the coyotes were singing across the desert. I kinda enjoy the sound of coyotes howling on a quiet night. They need to move up to Albuquerque where the rabbit population is out of control.

Weather

2008-02-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it to Fountain Hills AZ from Albuquerque. Drove through the worst weather imaginable. High winds, blinding snow storm, and heavy rain. It's still raining here in AZ. I always thought that I would be able to escape the weather in Wyoming and then New Mexico by driving further south. It's miserable here. Tomorrow should be better but not by much. hopefully I'll get in some riding before Wednesday's evening crit in Phx if I drive over there. Stay tuned...

2008-01-31T16:54:00.001-08:00

Jan 31
Weather here has not been very good for cycling as of late. Temps hovering around mid 30s has forced me into indoor training and gym workouts. I hope the other travelling cyclists in town (Team Astana) are enjoying their stay. Instead of choosing a nice place like Maiorrca or some other tropical oasis they chose Albuquerque too. Lacking my extreme cold cycling clothing it looks like I will be spending a few more days off the bike before I hit Arizona and their highs of mid 60s.
It actually snowed yesterday day and evening.

2008-01-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

Jan22

With my small (10ft) travel trailer packed with food and clothes I headed south with my 2 dogs toward warmer climes. A 4liter Toyota Tacoma towing a »35 year old travel trailer seems like an easy task when on paper. After all it’s a “lightweight” wooden structure built on a steel trailer frame. It didn’t seem like it to me. Semis were travelling at the same speed as me which was comforting. Gas mileage was a bit dismal, but hey, I was hauling my living quarters for the next 3 months. Instead of pushing it all the way to Albuquerque I decided to stay next to the Pecos river outside of Santa Fe some 45 or so miles. I remember spending 3 days fly fishing on the river back in 2004 and really like the area. It was interesting being there with snow on the ground and 6+ inches of ice on the river. It’s at somewhere above 7500 feet that I spent the night in sub 0 temperatures. The perfect way to find out how well the heater is in the trailer. I slept like a baby with the heater keeping the inside toasty, what a difference from sleeping in the back of the truck with a couple comforters over my sleeping bag to keep me warm.

I pulled into Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque the next morning since the campground with electric hookup is only $11 a day, what a bargain. This is now base camp for the next 7-10 days.
I must say that Albu is goathead thorn central. I have never been to a place where thorn-proof inner tubes are a necessity before. Stopping by a nearby bike shop on Saturday I got the lowdown on riding here, ride defensively and avoid the following roads… Wow, this is going to be fun. So the next day I fired up the CX bike and rode 5 hours on air force base roads. No cars, no (h)assoles, no worries. It was great to be out after fighting to get 1 hour of training in on the indoor trainer while it raged +35mph @17 degrees outside in Wyoming.
On a note of the location in which I am staying. The Fam-Camp at Kirtland is loaded with rabbits. Having a rabbit OCD dog (Nikki) this could be viewed as either good or bad. Every time she is let loose from control there is the high speed chase of the cottontail into his/her hole. Axel contributes to the chase but I think it is more an attempt to try and show up Nikki as he thinks he is “Top Dog”.
So it was on that 2nd day in Albu that I noticed that my trailer tire was worn to the cords. Wha! Huh! How! Crap!! All came to mind. I guess I was lucky as I’m such a detail oriented person or I might have tried to drive another 500 miles and suffered untold consequences. I replaced that tire that day. Quotes from the local repair shop were around $500 to replace the bent axle that appeared to be the culprit. Not going to happen I decided. This was a darn nice weekend trailer but maybe the Idea of an extended trip in it was a pipe dream. I decided to check out the RV dealerships that were numerous on my ride out Central Ave (Route 66) en-route to a 3 hour ride with much climbing.
After looking at a ’08 trailer on sale for $12K, which was nice but seemed very cheap from the fake wood grained interior, I headed to the next lot to see what had really intrigued me. The silver sided trailer made by none other than Airstream, the legend of travel trailers.
Financing in place I rolled out from the service department 2 days later with a new 16’ Bambi Ocean Breeze special edition.
Living in luxury. After all these years of sleeping on the ground, in the truck, on the snow, showering by portable camp-shower, wearing a down coat in the tent, shi**ing in the woods, coffee presses, campstools, daily trips into town to buy ice to keep the beer cold, and reading books by headlamp I’d finally arrived at the pinnacle of on the road living.
Decadence at last!
Air Conditioning, heater, double stovetop, refrigerator/freezer, bedroom, shower/toilet, hot water, 10 disc stereo system with DVD 4 speakers and a 15” Sony Wega flatscreen TV! All in a sleek, silver, special edition, Ocean Breeze Package. Decadence, you betcha!

more than just an outdoor guy

2008-01-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

X X 9- 9/ 9/ 9/ X X X 9/X=214
My best bowling score yet. Too bad it was in practice

Winter Blues

2008-01-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ahh, wind and cold. I don't really mind them that much if they didn't come at the same time here. 28 degrees with 30+mph winds produces some unbearable weather. Somehow my dogs don't seem to mind the icy conditions. The go out for walks with me with the same reckless hapiness that they have when it's 75 degrees and calm out. I wish I could share their enthusiasm. It's not happening though.
Hope is on the way, less than 2 weeks til I roadtrip for 2+ months.
Temps are looking pretty good in Phoenix right now.
Phoenix Weather

Computers and bad weather

2007-12-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Today I discovered what happens when your laptop falls 5 feet onto it's side corner.

Miscellaneous hard drive failure problems.

After spending 4 hours of dealing with a computer that kept locking up and rebooting every 5-10 minutes trying to backup all the files that I wanted (still could not get all my documents as they were in corrupted locations) I decided the effort of refomatting the drive and then hoping that the errors did not continue requiring a new hard drive was enough to consider a new laptop.
Into town I went in driving through a blizzard. Found what I wanted at a reasonable price, and drove back through the blizzard home with my new laptop. Lighter, faster, brighter, and much more memory and hard drive space.
The Vista Home operating system is a bit different after being used to XP Professional all these years.

I can't wait to be on the road to the Southwest. This has been the worst winter I have seen since I've been in Wyoming. Snow, wind, cold, and more snow. It got up to a high of 30 degrees (and 40 MPH gusts) today. That's the high til Wednesday where we are forcasted to hit 40.

Jobless II

2007-12-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been since 30 November that I'm unemployed. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I've been able to ride outside during the week, wake up when I (or my dogs) want, work on my bathroom, and otherwise relaxed while others drove through the nasty weather that we have had in the last week.

The state requires that I apply at 2 employers a week to draw unemployment benefits. Any one want to vouch for receiving my employment application?

Oh Yeah,

Merry F'n XMAS

more snow

2007-11-30T08:13:00.001-08:00

It's snowing and 23 degrees outside. So much for outdoor activities involving anything less than a full winter setup with face mask. I'll stay inside and watch TV and workout on the trainer/weights.

Jobless

2007-11-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

The short story is:
I'm on vacation for a while.

You don't have time to hear the long story.

Now if I can only afford to go somewhere with on unemployment.

2007-11-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Snow on the ground and 35 degrees used to keep me indoors for workouts. As this may be my final week of work for a while I'm getting used to riding when others are enjoying their hot mochas and fires. It sure beats indoor riding, and the dogs enjoy it too.
As for work, I should know Tuesday if I'm to continue working this winter or "vacation" it out.
Cyclocross season has been fun but for me It's over with more pressing items in my life to focus on.
I've just about finished my rear entry/washroom remake. A few more touches and I'll start on my main bathroom, or not. That is to say, if I'm out of work -bathroom, still in work -new kitchen countertop.

Job : No Job / CX king : CX gumby

2007-10-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an interesting time since my last post. On the 9th (my b-day) I was told that I would be out of a job on 1 December as the company was downsizing 1 technician and instead of experience they have decided to go with seniority. I'm low man on that totem pole. That and Oh by the way, could you head up to Montana and help out the lab up there next week? My response, "OK" (Great, I think there are some cyclocross races enroute).
Two days later I was told that things have changed and a bunch of other stuff. So to myself I'm like "OK, WTF? Does this mean that I have a job or not?" I'll error on the side of caution and start getting ready for unemplyment.

Big Sky Cross and Bozeman Cross
As records indicate I won the 40+ race on Saturday and was 2nd on Sunday. It was fun but the field size and intensity felt no where near Colorado racing. But a win is a win. Whoopi!
The bonus was fly fishing each day after the races. Bozeman is awesome. College town in the middle of fly fishing heaven, oh and the races aren't too bad either.
Then a week of fun in Great Falls. Well not really fun, just work. I would never move there (even though they offered me a job seeing as I was in the market). They do have a nice bike route along the Missouri river that eventually turns into a sweet dirt section that goes on for miles.
After all my success the prior weekend I was hoping that they would need my services for the following week and I could head to Missoula for a weekend of CX.
But alas, I was too efficient and had worked myself out of an extension. So it was back to home (9+ hours driving) and then to the Interlocken race in Broomfield the bext day picking my dogs up from the best kennel anywhere enroute.
needless to say my performance after the long drive was less than stellar, although I was the only rider to rider the sand pit.
So this week at work I was none to interested in working hard. And since there was no real work to do I spent the time sufing the job listings.
I have a possible in Fort Collins and I'm waiting to hear from a company in Boulder as to the position that they are advertising. Both would require me to move. So it's time to finish up all those home improvement projects that I started and then stopped when cycling season started way back in February. Back to work on the projects, got to have the casa ready just in case.

Boulder Cyclocross series at the Boulder Reservoir. After a good week of riding I was looking forward to the race. With the sand I should be able to have a decent race with my twin 25" motors to power me though. What I didn't count on was flats due to goathead thorns. 2 flats on 2 warmup laps then another flat after 1.5 laps of race. 3 flats was enough to tell me that I should have stayed at home, rode some miles on one of the best Sundays in a few weeks and finished up the rear entry in preparation for painting.
Next Saturday's race is at the same location, unless I buy some Tuffy strips I'm only heading to Sunday's smooth, euro style grass course.
L8r

Frisco CX action pic

2007-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Cowabunga!

Frisco Cross aka I got Girled

2007-10-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Frisco CX races were this weekend. the 2 dogs and I went down and showed. Day one was definitely a buttkicker. I finished 30 something. Same place I usually place in these races. I don't ever go into these thinking "gee, I might get top 10".

It's fun and challenging. It's just not my strong suit.

Georgia Gould, Luna Bar pro MTBer, passed me on the 2nd lap of many to go on and win the Cat 3 race. My teammate Kevin, snapped his chain so he was unable to give her a run for her money. Too bad because he is riding strong. I actually got double girled in this race as Team Giants Kelli Emmett passed me also.

I think Nikki and Axel got more public announcements by Dave Towle the MC than I did during their time with me during the mens open race.

Day 2 was supposed to bring snow/rain/cold. Awaking to sun (and bouncy dogs) I discovered that no snow had fallen (although the Cubs had fallen in 3 straight, swept by the D-Backs)

Temps were in the 30s and rising. Perfect.

Course was a bit easier but my legs were still sore from the previous days effort. Melissa from Tokyo Joes passed me early and I did my best to stay with her before falling victim to my own tiredness and made a few mistakes that I could not recover from. I eventually finished 30th, just behind her.

Girrld again.

afterwards I took the dogs out for a mixer with the other CX dogs. Everyone says that they are so well behaved and that Nikki is the coolest looking dog they've seen. Dave Towle, the announcer, even had a few comments about my "killers".

Now I get to enjoy a 1 day holiday before going back to work on Tuesday,

thanks Chris Columbus

Not Worthy

2007-10-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

As a "roadie" I've never been really good in the soft stuff. I've done the occasional MTB race early in my life. They helped me to realize that I would never be great off road.
There have been times that I wonder how I never broke anything off road. the worst was when I was on a narrow single track in NC and clipped my handlebar on my non suspension Cannondale and lauched headlong into the brush. I got back up and finished the race. I remember the course had lots of mud on a hill that I had to run up because I couldn't ride it.

Flash to the World Military Championships and as an alternate for the road team I really wanted to race. There was the Track and Cyclocross disciplines open to ride as team USA did not have a rider for either. Track was out, I've never tried it and didn' t need to die on a cement 33degree banked track. Cyclocross hmm, I've done something like that. OK coach, sign me up. I told my Italian team I needed a CX bike to ride and the next day I'm being driven to the current Italian CX champion's house (Daniele Pontoni) to pick up 2 of his custom Alan CX bikes (1 alu and 1 carbon both with Campy Record) to borrow for the military races. With many thanks I'm back on my way to the team quarters with the 2 sweet rides.
I must admit that I was in awe meeting Daniele Pontoni, and very thankful. He was a 2 or 3 time Italian champion and 1997 World Champion.
Bumming CX lessons from the Dutch, Italian, and French riders helped a bit but in no way prepared me for what lay ahead.
The Worlds course was laid out in a vineyard that I had passed many times in training rides. I warmed up following other riders through the muddy hillside, through the rows of grapes, down though the muddy turns back out to the road which climbed back up to the top of the vineyard.
Dissapointment
I had never raced a CX race before, I'm riding the current Italian CX champs bike, the warmup kicked my ass. What was I thinking?
I can say that I finished the race. I was lapped (possibly multiple times). There is a photo I have of me heading down a steep mud hill with fans and teammates yelling at me.
As I look back at this moment in my past, I think
"Man was that fun"
My Italian teammates were less enthused during the race, they expected more from me. I was sorry that I let them down. But hey, I have never raced CX before in my life. Probably only raced 3-4 MTB races before this.
Not worthy, I washed the borrowed bikes and returned them to Daniele. I thanked him and returned to my road life.
Who would have thought that 12 years later I would be ripping along in CX races in Colorado.
and lovin' it.

Fort Collins midweek Cyclocross

2007-09-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

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.

2 weeks of racing

2007-08-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Road cycling season is almost over. I've done some pretty neat races in the last couple of weeks. The Dillon and Copper Mountain races were at 9000+ feet. I went from the lowest point in my season to one of my highest in 24 hours. Lasting only 5 minutes at Dillon, I rebounded the next day and rode well. the course at Copper featured an uphill section with cobbles. It was a pretty cool course. Unfortunatly I held back as I was a bit timid after the prior day's lesson. Yesterday, at Niwot I felt great again (probably something to do with the Red Bull that was provided by Larry). I rode at or near the front most of the race and when Larry was able to slip into a break KOB and I played the perfect teammates and thwarted all efforts to bridge. Larry eventually finished 7th and I wandered through 22nd. I felt so good that I entered the Pro-1-2 race.
That race was FAST from the gun! I started out well, but a crash in one of the two 120 degree corners broke up the race and I found myself in the second chase group as there was a breakaway up the road. About 30 minutes into the race my inner thigh cramped forcing me to sit up and massage it out. 1/2 lap later I fired up the engines instead of dropping out. I was flying through the course but no way as fast as if I was still in the field. 3 laps later and the leaders caught me and I was whistled out. It was a good race regardless.

Next weekend is the Santa Fe stage race and then the final race on the 15th of September, Parker Twilight Criterium.
In between those 2 races I'll be camping/relaxing with a friend from Indiana. Should be a fun next 3 weeks.

I'm Back

2007-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

After what seemed like a month off, I'm back to try and finish out the cycling season before returning to the N. Platte to fly fish for some monster trout. The break after High Plains Classic took a bit out of me as I attempted to race the Longmont crit P-1-2 category with 2 easy days of riding. 30 minutes later I was in the beer garden enjoying the free beer. Ahh, to be back on the river fighting 20" bows.

Well that butt kicking was enough to motivate me to try and salvage the rest of my cycling season (shoulder permitting). Riding enough to keep me fit and prepare me for Fed Center and Bannock next week, I tested the waters of fitness yesterday.

The CCC road race, 25 miles of rollers and wind, would let me know if I should just bag it or head south on Saturday. Pretty good competition this year had me just hanging in til there was just 3 of us. Even then I was figuring on getting dropped as I was always the one to bridge back up to John every time he attacked, taking a little out of my legs every time. I made my do or die bid with 3 miles to go on the long uphill before the flat to the finish. 30MPH! holy cow I'm moving. Only Cary could follow. we worked together to the finish and I passed him easily to take the race.

The Friday and Saturday before I was camping up in the Snowies for some hiking, fishing , relaxing, and for the dogs to have some fun. Fishing for brook trout in a small stream with a 3wt is fun, as long as the dogs behave and don't jump in the creek. That's a pretty bad thing to happen when you are targeting fish in a 3' wide creek. After a morning of that we (me and the dogs) headed up past the summit for a hike. Hiking at 10,000 feet is a pretty good workout. 3 hours later I was ready for a breather at lower elevation (and to get back home to do a long ride the next day)

So after another long ride today up toward the summit, it's time to take a midweek break before heading to Denver this weekend.

Bike Racing Devils Tower style

2007-07-05T13:47:00.001-07:00

I raced the High Plains Classic stage race this past weekend. This race probably qualifes as overkill seeing as it was my 3rd 3 race weekend in a row. (others would call it great training) This year with the race getting a little more turnout than last year was much more competetive. I had hoped to fair better in the 85 mile first stage, but a return of muscle cramps left me just hoping to finish the last 2 miles. As expected, I was unable to hold the pace of the leaders on Bear Lodge Pass which is 6 miles long 30 miles from the finish. In total there was at least 6 climbs on the course including the 2+ mile ascent to the finish. I finished in 7th, 15 minutes down on the winner, not bad since I was basically on my own for 30 miles. Sunday's 2 stage event was a morning 8 mile TT and afternoon 42 mile RR. I did well in the TT (3rd) seeing as I had only spoked Zipp wheels to ride. The RR went off smoothly for the first 21 miles and we even stopped to let the Cat4-5s ride through as we were in no mood to be fighting it out in the heat for the full distance. (Temps were in the 90s both days and the Cat4-5s olnly did 45 miles the day before with less than half the climbing we did) At the turn-around in Avla the smooth ride went into hyperdrive as Brent from MOB Cyclery attacked the climb and everyone jumped to get on his wheel. Then someone else hit the gas and I knew I was in for some pain. As I dropped off the back I could only think of how much I could afford to lose and still catch them on the long descent. As I neared the summit I picked up one of the dropped Saskatchawan jr team riders that came down for the races and told him to grab my wheel and hold on. I knew that if I could not catch them my race would be over. So I opened up the floodgates and picked up as much speed as I could as I downhill timetrialed my way back into the race. When I got there after what seemed like over 5 minutes of chasing, the Junior rider, Steven, that I towed with me was extremely grateful. The thanks was paid back a little later when, unable to grab a bottle in the feed due the high speed, he handed me a bottle of gatorade. I finished 3rd in the field sprint as one of Steven's teammates (there were 6 of them) had attacked on the descent and soloed in the 15+ miles for the win. Next year should be huge after the guys go back and tell their teams (MOB, ColoBikeLaw, Denver Spoke, VC, Montana Velo, etc. about this event.
There is no road race like this in Colorado and once the word gets out about the courses and level of rider support (neutral rolling feeds) The masses will drive more than the 10 hours it took the guys from Team Saskatchawan to make this race.

Emerging from my Pain Cave

2007-06-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

2 days after finishing the Dead Dog I have finally emerged from my pain cave. Of course today's one hour massage probably had a lot to do with it.
You can read my interpretation of my road race HERE

musings
Leg cramps are a real biyaatch. Don't want to have any more of them this year.
Always grab a bottle in the feed zone... always.
doctors don't know everything
Back to back to back 3 race weekends are doable

Preparing to enter the paincave

2007-06-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Dead Dog Classic this weekend. It'll be a fast, painful weekend in the 35+ category.

Pain.... I like it, Suffering.... not so much

Am I back?

2007-06-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

To answer this question I headed down to do the club's 7.7mile TT this evening to get schooled by JC after his sweep of the Colorado Senior games. I didn't expect much more than sore legs after 3 days of climbing. Wind was out of the south, a cross wind, not much help but not a headwind. Probably the most ideal neutral conditions to be found.
Motivated by the performance of Boonen's prologue TT at the Dauphine Libere, I accelerated out of the saddle sat shifted and sprinted out of the saddle again before settling in on my ride.
My body was rock solid on the TT bars, a product of achieving the ideal bike fit this past winter.
Riding along at about 34 MPH I didn't think that I was on par for for a record as there were times last year that, with tailwind, we were hitting almost 50MPH.

I crossed the line in 13:56

I was elated to hear that I had finally beat John on this course. It's a friendly rivalry and he has definitly helped me to improve my TT.

Then I was told that I had set a new course record breaking the old record by 6 seconds.
That was a goal I had set out for last year but found it difficult to reach.
Now I need to reassess my goals for the TT
Only 10 more club TTs to try and improve on this time.
Hopefully this form carrys over to Dead Dog and High Plains

Climbing,

2007-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

is there such as thing as too much?
Friday up to USFS sign and back: >1000'
Saturday the Dead Dog RR course, Albany -Ryan Park and back: >6600'
Sunday to the summit, partial DD TT course and back: >2300'
Total for the weekend 165 miles and over 9900' of climbing.
No wonder my legs are tired.

----------------------------------------
The bunny has been relocated. After multiple intercepts by Nikki, it was time for him to move to a new home. So after this mornings capture we walked him to the fields south of the house and released him. I hope he finds a new hole to hang out in. Nikki still runs out to the bush where she usually found her friend.
Sorry Nikki, bunny is gone.

And the verdict is....

2007-06-08T19:43:00.001-07:00

The shoulder is intact, no tears. Just a massive strain/pull/ whatever. A couple of months of physical therapy and I should regain full motion according to the ortho doc. I can now officially resume whatever it was I was doing before the May 19 crash put the brakes on.

MMmmm Bunny!

In other news Nikki caught the bunny that lives under the house again. This time I had to step in and take the bunny away as Axel was engaging in the "whatever Nikki has I want" game. Not wanting to have 1/2 a bunny between them, I picked up the little guy and put him in a cat crate to make sure he was fine. All limbs firing, a couple photos later and back under the house he goes.

Snow!?, allergies, and no riding

2007-06-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

After 3 days of feeling like crap on account of a major alergic reaction to the pain meds I was taking, I finally am feeling good. Of course riding 2 times in 10 days does not help me if I hope to get through the Dead Dog Classic. It seems that even the weather now will not cooperate for me. It actually snowed today, in JUNE! Yesterday afternoon and through the night I endured average windspeeds of +40MPH with gusts to 65MPH and today a high of 45°. Yeah yeah, I can hear it now, I live in Wyoming. I bring it on myself. Hopefully tomorrow will be better after my orthopedic doc visit. Oh yeah, tomorrow I find out if my shoulder will require surgery or extensive rehab (or both). The way I feel right now, surgery would be a good way to regroup and prepare for next season. As for the allergic reaction I had, it was not what I would want to ever experience again. Itching and rash all over my body with my left foot swelling to twice normal size. Sorry no pics, I was in no mood for it. This weekend is supposed to warm up, we'll see how much.

I ride, therefore I am

2007-06-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Whew, after not riding for a week, riding 3 1/2 hours of hills and wind kicked my butt. I headed out to the Bicycle Station to meet up with the CCC for the Saturday ride after watching most of the VeloNews online live updates of the Giro TT (DiLuca maintains lead). I felt good for most the ride up until the last 7 miles that saw me hit the wall on the face of a 20 MPH headwind. I actually got leg cramps, something that I had not felt in a while. After a couple hours of vegetating (and medicating for the shoulder pain), I headed outside for yardwork. Invasive weed erradicating to be precise. I ripped out all the *species unknown* bad guys before they had time to flower and spread. and along the way discovered that my neighbor was using my property for their compost pile. At least the guys mother came over to appologize for the mistake made by them to cross my property line. Just another reason to get a fence line up this year as I knew it was a matter of time before something like this happened on the far side of my property where the "trailer trash" bordered my acreage.
Shoulder MRI scheduled for Monday and Orthopedist on Friday. Just a week away from knowing the damage. In other news, I've figured I have spent well over $150 in bandages, tape, gauze, Tegaderm, and a new set of gloves since the crash 2 weeks ago. Another month of wound repair and I should be ready for surgery (if that is what it takes to fix my shoulder)
next post: City Park Crit - Masters Criterium Championships

Doctors visit

2007-05-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm now officially jealous of Smokes road rash. Not that his is better than mine mind you, but that it is only skin deep. Todays trip to the doc to determine how bad my shoulder is revealed what I already knew when I asked him how bad it was, "it's not good" was the reply to my question. Unable to perform certain movements without bringing myself to pain threshold 8 pretty much sealed my bid for an MRI and a trip to the orthopedist. As for the racing season he tells me that I can't damage it any more than what I've already done. We'll see what the MRI and Ortho doc say's next week. For now it'll be long rides in the hills and fly fishing with the dogs.

After 2 days riding and working in the yard,

2007-05-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

I had a nice break from the normally crappy Mondays that usually start my work week. I took advantage of the holiday off to head up the road sans bike but packing 2 dogs and my fly fishing gear. Drove to the beaver ponds located about 30 minutes away. Prior to fishing I had to hike with the dogs for an hour to calm them down so that when they saw the water they wouldn't throw themselves in scaring the brookies away. After about 2 hours fishing and a few fish and ponds later, it was time to unleash the hounds. Well at least my lab, Axel, wanted to swim, and swim, and swim, and... well you get the point. As for the road rash/wounds, my arm still looks like it was attacked by rabid rats and my hip's marks are shrinking slowly, but it's my shoulder that is really bothering me. Hurt's so bad that it woke me up last night to where I had to put on the icepack. Damn tomorrow is a work day.

Naproxen

2007-05-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Works wonders. After a half a day at work with a shoulder that was feeling like crap the Naproxen kicks in and it starts to feel better. so much so that when I got home and was getting ready to help out at the club hill race that I said what the heck, lets see what it feels like if I ride the bike around the house... no pain. Looks like the shoulder injury doesn't hurt unless I'm riding on rough roads (dirt). So off I went, hammering down the road 10 miles to the starting point. I arrived 18 minutes late but didn't care. Everyone was already gone and I just went into chase mode. Noticed I had a rear flat but didn't care, it still had air by the time I crossed the finish. It was drizzly back near the start and the tempurature had dropped about 10 degrees so I opted to catch a ride back to my house but ended up with good power numbers, 30 miles, and a sore butt. Turns out that the crash I had on Saturday had somehow pushed my saddle all the way back. No wonder I was riding on the front edge of the saddle to feel in position. Changing the bandages tonight I noticed reddness and swelling on my arm, signs of infection. It's back to the doc to have that looked at and maybe more meds. The doc today said that due to the pain he was unable to determine if it was in dact my rotator or not. so I'l be re-evaluated next week for a possible referral for an MRI analysis of the shoulder.
Later

N Boulder Crit

2007-05-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

There are a few ways to drop out of a race.
1. The easy way like I did in the 35+ race because of side cramps
2. The painful, skin and ligament shredding while falling on your shoulder when another rider falls in front of you at 30mph giving you no way to escape as what happened in the P-1-2 race.
I guess you could say that I was lucky. I didn't break anything and the bike was in one piece. But tell that to my shoulder that feels like, at a minimum, a strained rotator. As I type this I am full under the effect of 2 Percosets and ice on the shoulder in an effort to numb the pain enough to allow me to sleep. It must have been my turn to crash as it seems lately out team has been finding their way to the pavement quite regularly lately. I really appreciate my teammates for everything that they did for me after the crash. Carter, who was with Nikki watching the race, helped me immensely. He got me to the hospital and stayed with me to meke sure everything was all right. DK watched after Nikki and brought me a couple boxes of Tegaderm. And everyone else was checking in or calling to see how I was. I have to stop now I'm having problems focusing feeling a bit nauseous from the meds

Wind...in Wyoming? Naahh

2007-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the wind. Rode 20 miles at 12mph and 20 miles at 35~45mph. NBA update, Bulls will probably get swept by the Pistons. The Warriors, as entertaining as they are, can't seem to get past the Jazz defense to win a game. They'll lose another heartbreaker tonight.

Update: Bulls pull one out!

And Utah, shuts up the Golden State crowd

Wheels

2007-05-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Wheels of Thunder, what a blast. Nice course with a crazy S curve. Felt pretty good during the first race (35+). Misread the lap counter multiple times as it was on the ground and hard to see. The worst time to misread it though was with 2 to go. Well I can say that winning the lap before the last lap doesn't pay anything. An hour later I was on the line again for the Pro-1-2. It was a fun fast race and I found myself toward the front on a few occasions. The fun ended when a huge blast of wind shattered the field. Lucky were the few that were in the front and able to hang on. 19 of 30 laps was good enough for me. It was a pretty good training day for me. 45 miles of high intensity. Tomorrow easy, next weekend North Boulder and Oredigger

Ahh the TT, gotta love the suffering.

2007-04-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Did Haystack TT Saturday. Finished a respectable 10th @31:11 but was 2 minutes behind the winner. Damn rollers on the backside kicked me in the rear. Went out Sunday for 2.5 hours on the MTB. Felt pretty good. Was feeling it toward the end of the ride so I know I was getting in some sort of workout. Deer Creek road race is next weekend. I'll see if I can last through with the leaders on the rollers that make up that course.

The dirt races are over - BR report

2007-04-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Boulder-Roubaix, the last of 2 races, held on mostly dirt roads North of Boulder. The weather was great, sunny and warm. A bad knee and neck pain had put me in the doubtful category to start but I decided to give it a go. Not much of a warm-up had me a little worried. It seems that that the guys up front are there to thin out everyone in the back. It must have worked as I heard we had dropped 30 guys on the first lap. I was riding, to my surprise, near the front most of the time and didn't notice it. On lap 2 I finally see a familiar face as Mr. Marti (racing because his son called him out) pulls alongside of me. I can only think TR and C-man can't be far behind. I'm busy keeping pace up front and don't have any time to look around for fear of crashing. There had been a break up the road that I let go and it was still there so I attack the hill before the pavement with another rider to join them but he's not working and we eventually are back in the field. I was actually enjoying myself, riding near the front able to respond to the accelerations as they were happening... right up to the time when M Carter attacked at the start of the rollers and strung the entire field out all the way up the feed zone hill where I had my motor shut down as I tried to stand and sprint up the hill. It was disheartening to watch everyone ride by as I dropped my chain to the small ring. Everyone that is except Larry. So I turned around at the top and saw him coming up. Allright, now it's a team training ride. I still felt pretty good and as Larry put it, I basically pulled him around for 3 laps. We weren't alone the entire time as we picked up Patrick from Primus-Mootry. And I didn't pull the entire way. They pulled through on the pavement and some dirt. I did want to catch the riders that were dangling in front of us and set out as we returned to the dirt on the last 1/2 lap to do just that. After the first hill Larry&Pat were off my wheel and I went into TT mode to catch the rider before the feed zone hill, dropped hime there and went after the other 2 that were riding just to finish. I finished right behind them at the line. I felt pretty good about my ride except for the lack of power when it mattered. TR keeps telling me the season is long. Yeah, we should be killing em soon as they burn out. Oh yeah, I finish 37th out of like 90. The course was nice, can't wait till next year

Top 10 in a P-1-2

2007-03-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

Two good things actually happened on Sunday. Well make that 3 I forgot the sun came out and heated it up really nice and warm. Did the 75 minute Pro-1-2 crit at the CSU Oval. Wasn't sure if I had enough to last through this but I didn't feel like driving all the way to Boulder in the morning for Stazio. At the start there must have been 15 Rio Grande riders, a group of Mob/Einstiens, and a few Hart guys. OOh boy is this going to be fun. At least there were a few of us veterans, one guy was even asking for the "kind gesture" of a head start for us. Not happening. Typical crit start, blistering for the first 5 minutes in which a good size group got off the front. It was represented by all the strong teams mentioned above and then some. I was jsut content to sit in and follow the accelerations over the next. I was told we were dropping riders every lap so that made me feel good. It's a fast course and 30 minutes in the break was waaay up the road. That didn't stop people from trying to go off the front only to be caught and sometimes shelled out the back. I found myself riding next to Forrest Newman from Spike most of the race. He had a cheering section all around the course. I kept hearing "go Forrest" but in my mind I changed it to "ride Forrest ride" and had a good chuckle. With 15 minutes to go we had closed the break down to less than a minute and were gaining on them. They were self imploding, heard from one of the riders they dropped that they were'nt working together. For some reason I didn't try to move closer to the front on the last lap. It was probably the pace, which after easing up with 2 to go was now in full tilt. I hung in there and when it swung onto the Oval, we caught and passed the break. With no sprint in my legs I just motored in a big gear passing riders up to the line. I'll say it was 10th place but it could have been 9th as I finished right on the wheel of an AF Academy rider that finished 8th per the Officials. I think they misread my number as they had no camera and put down rider 345 in 9th and my number was 348. Seeing as they didn't show 10th I'll take it as there might have been a rider that edged me at the line. Doesn't matter though because I had a great race. On the drive home the next best thing was hearing that my Kings beat the Suns 107-100. Whoo-Hoo, playoff hopes are still alive.

1986 Paris Roubaix

2007-03-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

I have this on tape but I found the finish on YouTube. This is probably one of the greatest sprint finishes in the history of PR. I can just watch this over and over. Just watch the man in yellow.

Boulder Beer Race

2007-03-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Living here in Wyoming you have to learn to deal with wind if you want to ride. Somehow, I'm not sure how they did it, but they moved a portion of Wyoming south of Boulder CO along hwy 128. It comes complete with a wind reseach center. So yesterday, I drove down to "Little Wyoming" where they closed the road down so we could race back and forth on it. The race for me and a few of my compadres lasted about 2 laps before it became a ride to finish. And finish we did, 5 minutes before they reopened the roads to traffic. Heck, I was the last official finisher... sweet.

Thursday rant

2007-03-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

WTF? Monday its 65° and NO wind, Tuesday it's 70°, yesterday it's gale force winds but a manageable 63°, and today a freakin cold 35°. It makes you want to just sit in a easy chair with a beer watching TV, and that's just what I'm doing. Looking at the forecast it's calling for 60° Friday. I may have to drive down to Ft. Collins if I get out of work early as it'll be 65°. Looking at the forecast for Boulder they are showing wind warnings because of 20mph winds for tomorrow. Ha, that wouldn't even get an honorable mention up here in Wyo.

Done ranting, back to my beer.

3-11 Stazio Crit

2007-03-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Here is the post I placed on the Team page. No sense to post it twice or make myself look better here.

Just a bit windy

2007-03-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

When the wind blows, it blows hard.

Yesterday afternoon I went out for a spin and encountered a 20+mph headwind. This made for a very good low cadence-Hi wattage workout for the first 3/4 of the ride. the last quarter was spent at Hi wattage-Hi speed as I zipped along at 40-45 mph. Too bad there wasn't a TT here today, there would have been an all time wind aided record set for sure. Worst part of all this wind is how it sounds at home with every window and vent creaking and moaning while getting pounded. Wind Lesson#1: always park into the wind so that you don't lose your doors when opening.

2007-03-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

After 2 days of hard (power wise) riding I am looking forward to my rest ride tomorrow and a long steady ride on Saturday before I see what this Stazio stuff is like. Yesterday was 4X11 at LT and today was 2X30 tempo 70RPMs (I actually don't mind those). So now I sit with my legs in the air, eating a "recovery" pizza, and typing on the laptop. It's been warm lately but not as warm as my co-patriots down south who are planning a Stazio takeover. I can only hope that my fitness will be enough to aid in the cause. I always feel like that early on as I never feel like I'm riding well till mid season anyway. Sacramento Kings play the San Antonio Spurs in a short while so it's off to the showers before the game starts.

50+ degrees - WooHoo!

2007-03-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Got out for a ride tody with Carter and 2 new teammates, Andy and Kevin, down in the Peoples Republic of Boulder for 3 hours today. TR tried to drag me into the Stazio but I said no way. Ran into him and DK after their race in which they did pretty good in the 35+ race. Things are looking good for the orange and blue.