Well it's been awhile since last post.  this page will be closed to allow for a fresh look.
Please go to the new blog
 Http://wyoracerx.wordpress.com
See you there!

Racing again

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?

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

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

back from a lazy break

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.