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.