Frisco Cross aka I got Girled

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

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

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

Foothills Cross and snow

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

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

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

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

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

Note: consult internet first for proper way to eliminate odor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 days of racing

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

2 weeks of racing

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.