I am thankful for my family.

My girls are great. Tolerant and accepting of what ever is served for dinner for the most part.

My wife is supportive of my cycling. New England is also key, race times work, venues (for cross) generally have great play spaces for the kids. I am lucky, and thankful.

My wife's family is supportive and while we have our clashes and there is friction, i am incredibly lucky, and overwhelmingly thankful for them.

Its always trying coming to visit. Never restful.

I got out for 2 hours on the road and finished it up with a 30 minute trail ride on the cross bike. Wicked damn fun.

Time to pack.

But i had to post.

Solobustingpeoplesballswithnobreak's nod cast was anything but a nod. Definitely one of those things like him calling me a pussy. It got to me. But it also does need a correction. I have a 19" flat panel and a 20" CRT not two 23" screens. I do have many things. That plinko chip reference was to say most things have fallen into place. And i'm fortunate. I have my struggles. My struggles are minor compared to many. I am thankful for that.

But if i become satisfied with what i have, and stop trying to better myself, stop trying to figure out how to fix my shortcomings. Or stop trying to be a better cyclist, or microscopist. Then i fail. I fail my family, i fail the world. So i introspect on little details. And well... that's me.

Time to pack. Time to shut the computer down. Time to drive.

I wish anyone who happens to read this a New Year filled with Peace. Find a way to make peace. Start with yourself, and those in reach.

-G

full page of Cross!

All ya need to know about cross

And Colin's getting the stuff together! Cool... except southington didn't get me results :( and baystate is all screwed up... i was 19th or something

kinda cool - definite trendline up, that is until nationals...

And Whadda ya know Lance has a conflict. BWAHAHAHAHA... Um, he's gotta get a manicure. no way he'd want to get fucking schooled by Floyd on a bike. That's be something his ego could never tolerate.

and thanks to Suds, well i've just wasted time while watching the girls go from playing hand pool (smashing the balls around on the table by hand without cue sticks) to playing smush eachother... i guess that's what ya get when you have a 2, 3.5 and 6.5 year old playing together...




which makes me just as smart/stupid as Suds... nice to know i have company!

And with the song of a 2 year old "NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED" screamed at the top of her lungs! I'm gonna click the orange button!

-G


Okay - i just went through it again, actually thinking this time without distractions and took the Stupid test again...




I think it goes to show what happens to parents when they are watching kids... 22% of my smartness was being allocated to watching kids even when i was 'taking' the test... of course... taking anything again will often improve the score... example: all those kids taking the SAT over and over and over again and paying thousands of dollars to test prep "schools"...

discovering a tick engorged on the scalp of your kid. Now see back when i was her age and my brothers were her age we would have one or two ticks attached to us a summer. never a big deal. to us.

and back then Lyme disease was just a deer tick problem and those were tiny tiny tiny buggers.

But i don't know how big they get when engorged. Based on the size of this thing, about 10mm long and the location or lack of a defined anal groove it really probably is just a common dog tick, nothing really to be worried about. Downside, didn't quite get all the mouth parts out. The head pulled off (my fault) and i did manage to get all but one small tiny part of the mouthparts out of her scalp. She was a trooper. Amazing. Just read something that makes me feel a bit better, more convinced that its a "harmless" dog tick. not that they are harmless... but still...

that and everyone seems to be getting sick...

all fun stuff...

Well that was supposed to be posted last night, but i tried to use the wireless in the house. It didn't work. It never wanted to give me an IP address. Anyone know how to make it give me an address so i can roam free - this 5' cat5 cable is a bit restraining.

Her tick 'spot' has cleared up.

Chatting with my dad this morning he reminded me of a summer i refused to take my hat off for a couple days on end... when i finally did... BIG tick... v big tick stuck to my scalp...

Well its getting pretty insane.

but its all good - life is good...

esp when the littlest has climbed into a Radio Flyer Town and Country wagon saying loudly "Daddy Do it" wanting me to pull her around in the basement... oops now she's back out... and headed upstairs.

Hitting publish...

prolly no riding today - but that's okay - its too cold.

-G

Kinda funny the relationship between sleep coffee and beer... too much coffee even if ya stop drinking it at noon can really magnify itself when ya have no beer to mediate the effects. I think it was just the coffee last night... oh well...

surprisingly even tho i tossed and turned i'm doing pretty well on only 3/4 of a pot of coffee...

damn interrelated stuff... hard to stop one of the things and keep it all balanced...

balance,

good day playing with the oldest, she didn't want to go to the zoo. i didn't want to drive all the way in... worked great. had a nice walk with the dogs, did some drawing while i did dishes, and then had some lunch, and then made chocolate peanut butter cookies. A compromise. I wanted to make peanut butter cookies, she wanted chocolate... so substitute 1 cup of flour for 1 cup of special dark Hershey's cocoa powder... boom. Chocolate PB cookies... damn tasty... decadent even.

i'm gonna bury last nights ramblings...

No bike ride today but having a day with my daughter is worth more than a ride. Its somewhat rare now that we get time together. She's dancing right now... cookies are cooling off... i needed to steal 2 minutes before the rest of the gang returns from the zoo...

Peace out,
G

Thanks to gwadzilla, i tried on the Blog Search over at Google...

and found this write up...

a worthy read, one i'd missed till now...

Snipped in its entirety because ya never know when someone's gonna dump their stuff:

Cross Oddity: A Newbie's Voyage To Cyclocross Nationals

Ground control to Trebon. The Cyclocross Nationals in Providence were a wild ride, and Bicycling.com's web geek LaRoo, a newbie to the Cross scene, was there to take it all in
By David L'Heureux
Alien_2
I’ve never gotten it. Cyclocross that is.

The mutt-dog mix of knobby tires on road bike frames with an equally mutt-dog following. Pit crews in orange jump suits, people (I think) in alien costumes (I think), college kids with guitars blaring over portable PAs, tons of beer, and the cure for any fever: more cowbell.

But there it all was at last weekend’s Cyclocross orgy in Providence, RI, better known as the 2006 Cyclocross National Championships.

The hybrid-racing format brings out a hybrid kind of fan. Part mountain biker, part roadie, very unique, and by unique I mean a little weird.
Dudintie_3Cross fans are a unique breed to say the least.
The Cross racing itself is like the racing you see at the local dog track. The starter says go, and they go like hell. Shot out of a gun. The only thing missing is the little electric bunny.

It’s just plain silly fast, and painful to watch. But it’s fun to watch too, and the 3.2-kilometer loop at Roger Williams Park was as spectator friendly as any bike race I’ve ever been too.

The conditions were not typical ‘Cross conditions — it was fifty degrees and sunny both days. The purists wanted mud and cold and rain like last year. Instead, they got a packed ribbon of tacky dirt that was wicked hard (long A’s in New England) and ideal for one thing: going wicked fast.
Crowd_1Spectator friendly? Oh yeah.
Strategy. There isn’t much. Competitors actually laugh when you ask them about it. As I already mentioned, they say go, and you go like hell. And on second thought, there was an electric bunny: whoever was leading. Almost every race had a clear-cut winner by the second or third lap and everyone else was just giving chase trying to keep up. Kona’s Ryan Trebon outpaced the men’s Elite field by a mile, Danny Summerhill continued his dominance of the Junior circuit, Katie Compton doubled up for her second National Title in as many years, Ned Overend (yeah that Ned) showed up for his first Cross race since the Reagan administration…and won, Steve Tilford won the Masters 40 – 45 race (rumor has it he was tuning up for the Fifth Street Cross finale here in Emmaus, PA), Tim Johnson dropped an entire field of National Title holders in the Strawberry Cup Pro exhibition, and Jesse Anthony made the rest of the U-23 racers look like U-3 racers.
JesseaLadies and gentlemen, National Champion Jesse Anthony. Very fast.
There’s a reason Nationals registration has gone up exponentially in the last two years (more than 1,900 racers showed up to thrill thousands of spectators). It’s a great race format for both (you could watch 70 percent of the race from the beer garden). Cross also forms a natural bridge between racing seasons. Plus the Euros love it, so it has to be cool right?

After the action, there were parties of course. This is the bike industry; and there’s one thing they know how to do as well as ride bikes: have a good time when they aren’t riding bikes. The Providence Hub Bike Shop had an open house Saturday night, under the auspices of showing the black and white Cross-lifestyle photos of photographer/ filmmaker Brian Vernor (amazing by the way). The quirky gathering of cyclists from all walks showed up to kick-it, slam PBR (when did PBR become the beer of choice for bikers?), talk Cross, and generally misbehave. All of which was accomplished.

After the racing was done Sunday, the crowds went on their way. Event crews quickly struck down the course. Gone were the run-ups, the obstacles, the beer garden, the podium, the racers, the crews and the fans. All that was left from the weekend of National Championship racing and revelry was a thin, hard-packed ribbon of singletrack looping through Roger Williams Park.

Floating in a most peculiar — and beautiful — way. The oddity of Cyclocross finally made sense to me.
December 19, 2006 in Weblogs | Permalink

its insane, different than up north in new england...

more frustrating, less predictable...

one moment you are going 85 mph the next 55... for no reason...

it feels late, like i should be asleep... I realized i love extra virgin olive oil...

i just don't feel right if i don't get a boat load of it at least every other day... that and balsamic vinegar. I cooked up a batch of food tonight, ate MY size portions and had thirds and it was good. Had a small glass of a VERY good red wine, to be polite as it was a very good wine. And it was a nice accompaniment to the meal.

It was a good day. Kids had fun, old friends visited, and no, no shots of me at the Waffle house. Although there was one up at the Exit (152B iirc) a good 80-90 miles north of Richmond. So i don't need to go quite that far if i want a Waffle house. Of course i had a nice reminder of the emotional trama that was around the end of august, when i felt like deleting the blog... all those painful emotions flooding back, new information to. And my logic, which still seems sound to me, was flummoxed and dismissed. I should talk about that before it gets read here.

Ahh well... catching up on the blogsphere...

and before that? I watched Say Anything. Well all but the parts that were too painful... ya see... i grew up in seattle (region)... graduated from High School about that time... and well i dunno - i kinda always like the John cusak character...

well... after searching about about ione skye - wondering what she's up to (don't do a google image search with safe search off if you don't like nekkid boobs)...she's actually been in a few movies...

peace out safe holidays...
g

dear readers... i noticed that i had a peak there with cross nats and all... its tailed down to nutting... prolly the old crazy blogger gang tied in to the network that has the smallest of us all plunk down solidly in the center. That is the one, the only, Kerry Litka. An inspiration to me at least.

I think i had enough of a hiatus last week to drop off the trendy radar. Or not.

Only time and the stat counter will tell.

Yeah - i still haven't managed to make it out of the house for a ride yet... i think it'll happen here shortly.

Maybe if i can't sleep tonight i will work on that narrative of the trip. I'm reminding myself...

Well...

okay - this is too many posts for a morning...
(maybe solobreak is working hard on his nod-cast - if it makes it to the web i can imagine that it will be VERY entertaining!)

-G

its time...

must brave the roads here in Virginia. It will be interesting to see what its like trying to get to the Prince William Parkway bike path.

Plans for hitting the Zoo today have been put off till Thursday, maybe we'll have a chance encounter with the one and only - THE gwadzilla. Tomorrow we hit the road for a little trip to Richmond... so today - before my knees totally fail i'm gonna get on the bike.

Last night man my knees were killin me, its like the muscles all have checked out and gone on vacation. Will see if i can, as christine says, wake up the legs. Its only 5 or 6 miles of open road warrior roads leading to the path on the parkway, but i'm looking forward to making note of the habits of the car bound rotund fat asses that make their homes in these over sized cookie cutter development centers. 10,000 square feet of a house parked 6 feet from the neighbor... there is a demand and i will say my in law's place is very atypical (a fact not lost on them when they decided to get over here - mostly to be near my sis-in-law). I'm sitting here with a great view of the creek and some woods. Oaks still clinging to their leaves and walkers (who appear to be also atypical in their waist sizes) strolling on the path along the creek. The path unfortunately has a nice big no bike sign on it. It would make a nice cross loop with the rest of the subdivision.

James Brown is dead. Long Live the King. The Post has a picture of him from 1972, i was only around for about a year and even then he didn't look young.

okay... well the moment has passed - time to move on from my selfish indulgence sitting here no the computer.

gonna be the anti-drunkcyclist tonight... sober cyclist... as CTodd correctly says - cycles are good - my could day reversion to my drunkcyclist self was healthy. In some ways. In others, not so. A wee sinus infection has reared its head and causing me some frustration. That's another reason to get on the bike, and not indulge. But it also supports another correlation. The only time i've been sick has been after a stressfull weekend filled with loads of beer and wine... so it makes sense that i'm dipping ever so slightly into the not healthy range...

peace out... be safe...

-G

cross is still on my mind. part of the thrill is satiated by the likes of the US bloggers hanging in Belgium, Christine Vardaros, Barry Wicks, Molly Cameron, Ryan Trebonator... that gang... are there others? I should search and look... but i haven't, yet.

I can be a vicarious participant, a cyclocross voyeur. Extending the season mentally eh?

I'm not getting great night sleeps, between the bed and the almost 2 year old joining us in the smaller than we are used to bed its tough. Add to that and part of my routine here is to get loaded at every opportunity. At least in the past. I thought i could avoid that this time. So far, the first night after the drive with two beers was the only successful night. If you can call it that. After nationals its been tough. I'm finding my drive to stay somewhat sober was racing cross. Cross season done, why bother not consuming at the rate i have in the past. I'm not driving so that's out as a motivational factor. Gotta find something else. The road season seems so far off. Out of touch. And that might be good. Mentally i've checked out of bike racing. I'm putting on weight, eating lots and lots, which hopefully down the road can be energy re-routed to muscle growth or long ride fuel. At least that's how i'm looking at me getting fat.

I want to add a personal clarification note. The consumption of beverages really wasn't that bad compared to many i've known... extreme ranges are still tame compared to some... I just want to qualify it as i get a bit self conscious about it...

I had a conceptual plan for documenting my drive down. And hopefully i'll have a moment to flesh it out. It plays off the fact that once i get talking its often hard to shut me up...

well time to go play...

merry Christmas and happy holidays

Reading the Washington Post (one of the only decent print papers out there - they even have FRAZ) this article was front page. Bottom fold but still. A great read.

Refreshing in a way sort of not really, but worth a read. It made me think about all the school teacher/cyclists who are doing a damn fine service to the next generation, trying to educate them.

Another article showed up in the Metro Section. Similar in way maybe they didn't connect but also a good read. All the testing. Teaches kids how to test well, No? Does it teach them to think and write and communicate? What is science? Communication of findings? What is Teaching? Communication of basic concepts? What is Art? Communication of emotions? What is writing? Flat out communication!

So how does testing and filling in little ovals make one a better, more knowledgeable person? *thanks to Firefox 2.0 for catching the spelling error*

BloggingWeb logging is a great way to work on communication skills in the written form. Sure it also can be fraught with the short hand as discussed in that article i linked first hand. but the WTF and HS and LMFAO have been around longer than IMs. They go way back to the roots of computer communication. In many ways discussing the Cross courses of Europe is an educational experience. I'm trying to learn.

Sure, i'm not new on the block, but i have recognized that somethings i have not as much knowledge as i should. And actively seeking out others with primary experiences and listening to their opinion/recounting is a way of educating myself that i relish.

I like to ask questions. even stupid ones. many i would know the answer to, but still without thinking of the answer myself i seek the answer from others. One person commented to me that it was a sign of indecision. Um. Yup. I'm pretty guilty of being indecisive. I'll analyze options until the product landscape changes and i have to start over or forget about it. Which is often good for a cash poor person like me.

Cash has never been something i've ever had much of. Growing up education and educational experiences were always valued above anything else. The state of michigan decided that my wife working as well as me was not going to continue and that ended the one stretch of reasonable fiscal freedom. Still clawing and scratching to stay above it all. So reading, asking questions, searching for gifts not material, seeking knowledge always seemed to be where i fell into. If i could wrap up a bit of knowledge and give it out as a present this time of year would be easy for me. The penny pincher in me has a tough time spending money, and the indecisive side makes picking out a gift for someone even more painful. That all feeds into the anxiety and its a pretty destructive spiral. Happens all the time.

When i was running my own classes in Michigan, writing was critical. It works beautifully with teaching a technical skill. They learn how to do something. Then write up what they did and how they did it any why it could be useful or important. The first papers were always tough. One or two students out of the 8 or 10 could write acceptably but still had much to learn about scientific formatting and clarity in the brevity of a report. But towards the end of the semester, with lots of patient guidance, many re-writes, they generally all began to understand why i was demanding that they focus on their writing. Writing is important.

This writing here for me is very different than the critical scientific writing. Its more along the lines of speech writing i think. Prose flowing out of my fingers. This has been more tightly guided around a theme than most drivel posted. More because it was inspired by a specific instance.

Writing.

Writing is good. Slows one down. Makes one think. IM and text messages are probably very good starting points for writing. And potentially a fantastic teaching tool if harnessed intelligently with great planning.

peace out
G

Holidays... ahh the holidays...

Merry Christmas everyone...

Yeah...

Me signed up...

Me signed up with cat 4 gang. Why? Cause i'm cat 4 and i have a team mate registered for the race and there are already 81 people signed up with a 100 rider max.

Figured i'd regret it if i didn't sign up. Also knew that i ain't able to go head to head with the 30+ guys. Best to do my time in my Cat and maybe i'll get fast enough to upgrade some day. or not. there are worse things than being a lifetime cat 4 roadie... can't think of what they are... with a absolutely confirmed love of Cross as my favorite focused cycling discipline i'm comfortable being a 4.

So. Zoo, we'll actually get a chance to race together.

I was pretty sure about bringing the bike with me... but now at this point, the helmet shoes and the rest of the required crap that goes along with riding will take up too much valuable space. Besides, 10 days off the bike can't be all that bad for me.

And i got the studless ice tires put on the volvo for the trip... that's a sure fire way to stack the weather odds in my favor... or not... sure looks pretty mild over the next 15 days... prolly shoulda left the summer tires on... but they are summer tires, ain't good for nuttin in the snow.

And... can't find anything negative?. Well dissin cross and ranting about Math 101... may not be uber negative but the overtones of frustration in many ways has been lacking lately... maybe not negative but defiantely overly positive and inspiring like the lastest crop of stuff... I haven't owned any of those three items either... and i'm no where near as fast as you are...

Oh and another HOW ABOUT THAT... (i'd use them apples but... that'd be stupid)
Cyclocross world actually is citing sources now?

AMAZING...

what's the internet coming to?

oh about the course design thing... Cross is one that seems to be the type of event where course similarity could improve the crop of US riders... but then there'd prolly be a bunch of hippie mt bikers bitching about the grass crits and shit... for the record i'm with ryank... flyovers would be fucking COOL...

I hopefully will have a chance to go through the camera and see what gems my wife captured from CX Nats weekend....

My wife went through the Flickr images on the side bar here yesterday and had the comment at home "Wow, you have changed a LOT since Michigan." A big departure from that bloated fatass i was becoming.

cycling saved my life... at least it reversed the process of joining the rest of the country in the obese column. my BMI was over the normal range at one point, not by much but about 6 or 8 points higher than it is now. Pretty incredible what a simple commute on the bike can do for you.

taking a break this next week will be tough, but at least i'll have friends racing in Belgium to follow.

Congrats to Christine Vardaros on her being selected to the national team. Also pretty cool that Rhonda was selected. Will the caveman/Urbonus be selected to the men's side? Combined with the news about J.Page its all very cool.

Till later, Peace out everyone.
-The tall guy in the orange suit: "Like the Cliff Guys, just dirtier"(said MegA at nationals to some good lookin gal)

I posed a question to Wicks and got a great answer... any other 'pros' that stumble here or should i say any one else who's raced in Belgium, please feel free to add your own answer...

Question:

Was that course in Providence closer to a euro course than most of the US stuff?

Does the US need more like that to prep better riders for duking it out with the Fidea/Rabobank dudes?

Answer:

Nasty said...

The euro races wold be as fast as nationals, but it would be greasy muddy, like 2 inches of slimey mud over hard clay. and we would be going faster. it is not possable to repicate the euro conditions in the US couse we are to slow, and the dirt is different.

oh and it would seem that Wicks thumb is messin with his spelling... that or there really is someone who spells worse than me out there!

This musta hurt

or more aptly titled: what the hell was i gonna say?

One thought this morning riding in was to finally put the list of this years races down on 'paper' but the thought of putting 111/196 sort of was not super exciting.

Its also the last day of riding to work until January. in the 20s today so i balaclava'd it. Slow. On the cross bike with those Serfas tires and the past weekend of racing and consuming too much beer and wine my legs just feel like poop. I'm tired. But then i thought, i gotta keep riding. It'd suck to let the fitness/strength gained go away. Schedule wise it'll be tough to make it in to the city and ride or at least meet the legend that is gwadzilla. But juts having a chance to ride two or three times will definitely make it worth tossing the bike on the rack... The luggage box is going on top anyway, might as well toss a bike up there.

Nice shot of Yogurt Boy, in what might be? his last race in the BOB clown suit.

Burnt out...

go lots to say but no effort to get it out amid the distractions that we have kicking around here today...

peace out
G

oh yeah...

one happy moment in the race sunday... when i ran the barriers with one foot in the middle... Big long strides... going wicked fast... single foot placed in middle and i cleared the barriers...

i was loving those barriers... taking em wicked fast loosing no momentum going into them no brakes flying past people... no i didn't hop anything...

I wanna keep racing cross, but like CTodd says, maybe its best that the season is so short. We relish it all that much more when its here.

Oh and Brucie popped me a notice that Kozy Shack was on sale at Stop and Shop... 2 for $4... well Kozy Shack is a cross season food. All done with the Shack until next cross season. Like Cross Shack is too good, too addictive, to use all year round.

If you check out Colin's blog there ya can see Paul C head through and then me...

1 minute 14 seconds later...

not quite one lap yet even...

all lost on the first lap...

Kerry's got some great stuff - it is very exciting to hear her passion and enthusiasm. She'd gotten very somewhat negative lately... this positive vibe is awesome...

CTodd's epic tear jerker (no i didn't cry solobreak) epilogue for the end of cross is a great read as well.

Cross blogs have skid to a stop...

What next... what next...

Mark the Shark is eye'n the master's field. At least he is a year or two older than me (i think, right?) and maybe after a few years of racing in my legs i'll start to be psuedo competitive...

read about it at velonews... 'course all the insiders prolly know this stuff... me? too busy chattin with the twin towers...

and well its here.

Talk about an insane week/10 days.

Life back to normal? Not a chance. There's an overwhelming pile of things to get through before the Holidays. Not sure how it will all get done. Oil changes, tire changes, paperwork to file.

Checking the results i was an impressive first rider a lap down on Friday. I sucked on friday. Shitty slow ass pace. Sure starting all the way in the back will mess with the lap times. But i was turning an average lap time more than 2 minutes slower than the winner (8 something for Feldman vs 10 something for me). My legs just didn't seem to work at all.

Sunday? Different story. Still not wicked much faster it would seem but it was under 10 minute lap and i managed to finish all 5 this time. Rob beat me on friday, i beat him on sunday. I felt remarkably different/better during the race. Still hurt and on that 5th lap... i was pretty well hosed, very little in the tank.

BUT i was getting back on the bike now as well as i was getting off, actually gaining spots on the remount AND the dismount. I was actually able to RUN up the run ups... not Trebon fast, but freaking fast compared to Friday. I did sort of stop fighting for spots a bit there mid way through the final lap, but i was having fun. I was enjoying myself, reveling in the pain and soaking in the last cross race of the season. Sort of like those last few minutes in the shower that are just really luxurious. Hitting the pavement one guy was getting ready to come around and was being cheered on and well... i figured, it was it, unload the tanks, clicked down to the 49-15 and wound it up heading up, 10 pedal strokes later with the cadence back up i said awe fuckit and dropped the fuckin hammer to the 12 and reeled in the HUP rider and almost caught 110th place. Yup. I sprinted up that damn hill, like in G-ster. I sprinted and won 111th place. The shame of it all. But i did almost puke right in front of the kettle corn tent.

There were way more sketchy riders on Sunday. Friday the riders were way smoother.

I also changed up the equipment/tires. it was drier than friday, and instead of the CPX33 off the redline in front, i used my trusty ancient Open4CD laced to my Chorus hub. I decided to go with the baldy in the rear and the Vred up front. Much better combination for the day. Traction was only an issue once but the only dabs i had were other people shoving me off line or me droppin pedals. After the first barrier section i went to the beer garden side and ran the transition and remounted after woop-dee section. The final time through there i had my only mechanical of the weekend and i dropped a chain when i jostled the bike a bit awkwardly on the setdown, but i remounted great, and almost managed to get the chain back on without putting a foot down, but in the big ring, not quite enough momentum to make it happen. The course was pure big ring 100% of the time. My back only got twingey once mid lap 5, but i sat up with the hands on the tops of the bars for a few seconds and that seemed to get me to the finish... CTodd's bar was a life saver. The second ride on the revamped rig was much better. Timing? I was still freaking slow. But 111th out of 196 starters and 160 finishers and only 6 minutes off the leaders pace instead of a whole lap/10 minutes was a win. Oh and just to put an exclamation point on supporting that i had fun, i was making motorcycle noises coming out of turns on the last lap... sure wasted energy. But damn. I had fun on the bike.

There were a few people slower than me on Friday as well. 115th out of 146 starters and 136 finishers. It sticks me back in the pack for sure. But just getting out to race and compete. To have a measure to end my season.

To have achieved the goal established last year was really the best prize. That and i think i may have finally gotten over getting hosed by the volunteer committee. Sure i only worked from 9-4 on Wed, just doing heavy labor and shit. I didn't/couldn't help out with my other commitments. And what would i do with that jacket anyway? I saw gene a handful of times. he even said he'd bring me the jacket he had for me to the pits during the woman's race. before leaving i took a look around and didn't see him anyway. No i wasn't there everyday. I didn't get a fancy "staff/volunteer" tag. I'm really not THAT hung up on it. Sort of. Okay maybe i am feeling a bit shafted. I broke a potentially unfixable wheel that was my only good set of semi aero wheels. I broke a bar, discovered my stem to be slightly ovalized in the quill (yeah i'm still using a 1" threaded fork). I don't have the money to fix that stuff. So that put a bit of a damper on there. Our house guest had a great personal race, but not quite good enough to contend for a podium spot. Which was somewhat disappointing. Ran into Barry on Sunday. Wicks messed up his thumb in the crash on Saturday and was out of competition for the Sunday event. And to start the week Solobreak calls me a pussy and Feldman kicks me again on friday callin me an asshhole. The asshole thing didn't affect me nearly as much as the pussy thing. Oh well. I'll live.

The concerts went well in Seattle (that i missed). But the windstorm and rain created some major major problems with the house, still no power there (but there is a generator - just not one big enough to run the stove or the hot water heater). So that was a bit of some major stresses. Everyone there was pretty sick and very tired with the weather and the concerts and the travel. Still feels kinda strange and surreal not to have been there. I think that's part of a little cloud over my head.

I love my girls. I can't wait for the holiday vacation. I hope we can spend some good quality time just having fun next week.

I didn't take a single picture at the race. My wife got a few shots of me that i'll pick through and post if they are any good so i can cap off the last race in the old team kit.

I feel bad for Mo, she and rebecca should have placed a bit better. But then Christine had a much better race relative to those two than the week before, so for her that was good. Oh and Both of them were stunning at the Media event on friday night.

Ah well... I'm falling asleep. between the non-stop flow of emails and the silence here and the total depressurization, fatigue is hitting me hard...

peace...

G

It was amazing to see the racing yesterday. The course got really fast. Wicked fast.

Trebonator freaking dominated. Didn't even look like he was working hard. Amazing.

Also cool to see JP (page) racing and taking 2nd.

Appearantly i missed the free booze/food schwag and awards at the Volunteer thing last night - didn't find out about it till this am in the email.

Oh well...

i'm here to race and to support hopefully the winning woman in the race. Planning on downing a few scoops of Kozy Shack, hittin the dunkin donuts for a 24oz cup of the worlds worst coffee and going about MY pre-race routine. Meaning, pretty much what worked for me to this point. Or didn't work for me.

well time to load the car. get suited up... at least its cold this morning. I hope it doesn't start warming up till say 11:30... i'm sure it'll be started well before then but i can hope?

Here's to hoping that i can get to the first turn in some place other than 8th from last today.

Post race.

So what to say. The results say enough. It sucked. Correction. The course was great. I sucked. There’s a huge list of reasons in hind sight. Bike change. Anxiety leading up to the race. Lack of proper race prep. Sleep deprivation following last weekends race. Stress of hosting an athlete and being a mechanic/support crew.

All very worthy and not regrettable. I knew that my running legs had left last weekend. They checked out. And yesterday kaboom… I managed some passing carrying my bike over the heads of others on run ups. It just hurt. Hurt a lot. But the pressure is now off. I can race tomorrow without pressure.

I didn’t make my very meager goal of not getting lapped. I got lapped on Glass hill, just before the finishing straight. I’m taking my line and I head “INSIDE ASSHOLE” and some big dude comes screaming past flying up the hill, he went around. And was gone… checked out…. It didn’t really hit me that it was Feldman until I saw him raising his arms at the finish. Nothing I could do. Rob Bauer came around me before the long road section and I couldn’t hang on his wheel… I was dangling a dozen meters or so behind him hitting that stupid run up and there was more distance. And I watched as Rob squeaked past and managed not to get lapped. I was pissed. But in many ways thankful. I raced a mere 40 minutes or so, Rob had to keep going for another 10 and finished somewhere about 50 minutes. The new stem and bar had me feeling too stretched out. And that kinda sucked. Not to mention it was the first ride on the remodeled bike. But at least I wasn’t constantly wondering when the bar would break. Joel and Richard seemed to have a freaking speaker in my ear – I couldn’t block them out. That and my “support” thought it would be better not to tell me I was in danger of getting lapped. Damn I wish I had known. Not that I might not have been lapped but I don’t know if I could have dug enough. My legs just were dead. Felt good in the warm up. Weather was fine, although a bit warm honestly. My race prep. I just didn’t get it figured out. This tall twig screwed up. But pressure is off and I can try stating from the very back of a second race.

Yeah. From what my wife said I was in 5th at the first few turns, 5th from the back. In a rather large field. Not one chance in hell of pulling anything out of my ass. Granted I did finish in front of 25 others who were scored, and who knows how many that didn’t finish the race. 115 out of 136. Pretty shitty. Not totally worked up about it, kinda mad at myself. But then I couldn’t really expect to survive, in that caliber of a field.

But Erin was very excited and proud of me. She reminded me that last year as a spectator I had said “I’m going to race here next year.” And I did. I raced at Cyclocross nationals. I finished the race. One more race and the season is over and I can start evaluating what I can do to make next year better. Not that cyclocross nationals is an option, being in Kansas city. Not for me at least. But I can set other goals. Make other plans. Maybe the organizers will be able to get Providence as a permanent venue. There was lots of talk when setting up the course about getting a world cup venue there.

Oh and that day I took off to set up the course. Well those fancy jackets the “volunteers” got? Well seems that ‘us’ less worthy folks who spent a whole day of heavy labor rank below those so sat at a desk at registration or stood in a crossing for a few hours, watching the race. Oh well. They were a funky color. Kinda clash with my orange suit.

Hung out at media night with Christine. Sat at the table with JP. Gotta say as cool as it would be to see one of the towers win, if Jonathan wins, that’s be freaking cool. His daughter looks just like him. Yeah, me a big softie for fellow dads. Speaking of, a big congrats to Suds. He’s now joined the ranks of dads with daughters. But I think his path with the three older boys will take a bit of an edge of the whole raising a girl thing. Thinkin of Yogurt boy. Felt bad for his mechanical. That sucked for him. But he came out. He gave it a shot. And tried his best.

I’m sitting outside this morning, writing at the coffee shop across the street from Ballet. K and I will head down to the course, check in with Meesha to see if there is any resolution to the early volunteers “stuff” or lack of. Yeah. I’m sitting here outside typing. Its 45 or so. I’m no more of a man than anyone else because I can take the cold. Its not a way to say I’m better, its just a fact. Be it what it may.

Media night. Free Harpoon beer. Not good. Or really good. Saw Gully, met a ton of people, talked to Wade for a while, hopefully I didn’t make a complete fool of myself, I was pretty loaded by then. After my second or third beer, Dawn asked if I was going to be okay to drive. Hah. I had a driver. And I didn’t hold back. 5 pints. I was a bit hung over this morning but not too bad. Just a bit of that dehydration feeling. The interviews were curious. No one was listening. I thought people might get quiet when the guys were being interviewed, but the ‘crowd’ was just as loud as they were for the women. Compton and Mo were no shows. But the towers were there. Met Barry, and well I was taller than them sunsofbitches, in my boots at least. The Trebonator asked if I was gonna be wearing my orange suit… Damn freaking straight I will.

I’m scattered but feeling rather like trying to write. Although. I dunno. Those who may have read this a bit ago, will remember my thing about “You looked good” as something to say after a race. “I looked good?” From the pits maybe, not from the run ups, ask Hula Girl over at thebikegame.com how I looked on the fucking stupid stairs… would have been much better to ride that shit. w/o the stairs. That and my right foot is bruised from the concrete stairs…

Big thanks to Cronoman, Timmieeeee, and Greybeard for the shouts during the race and for the Belgian beer after the race. I had a good buzz that helped with the freaking wreck of a race.

Time to stop ‘crtl + s’

Okay – so, well its T-4 hours…

Before racing time…

It’s a big race, I’m not sure what to expect other than a start more mobbed than G-Ster. I think that’s one part that’s worrying me the most… But its also the one part I don’t have control over. If everyone falls down in front of me, cool.

I’d like to shoot for top 20 as a goal. Realistically? I’ve got a very tiny shot at passing all the 12 rows or riders in front of me to get up to around the 20th spot at the finish.

Riding the course gave me a completely different perspective of it. Hats off to Tom. It’s a great course. I take back anything I said. Farking brilliant. Three running stairs, not too long, and the hurdles. Lots of great elevation changes where power is a premium.

And it’s a big ring course all the way around. Both Christine and I rode a fast lap and stayed in the big ring in all but one section, turned out to be the same section ironically.

Little recovery is also a plus.

I rode around with last years 35-39 champ for a most of a lap or two, chatted at the end as well.

But

I broke a spoke on the Front wheel on the Rolf Vector Pros. Which means… the wheel is not in service. I have the fortune to use the CPX33 as a back up/primary wheel.

At the same time the spoke broke I think I messed up the handlebars. They were making a metal on metal noise that was both annoying and a major concern. Coming from under the stem.

So, last night, take front end apart. Check the fork. OK. In the end I had to take the 140mm stem off the P-mount and replace the 135 on the Croll and use the Bontrager bar loaned to me by CTodd. Still need to retape and switch tires around.

The tires, now a fortuitous nature from the broken spoke. I rolled around on the 35 Tricross II that solobreak graciously and helpfully passed on to me. WOW. What a difference. The baldies were forcing me to scrub speed hitting the turns as they weren’t hooking up real well on the greasy grass and I couldn’t jump into the gears as hard leaving the turns… The Tricross, HOOKED THE FUCKUP they rocked.

Gonna be runnin them with my Vreds. The course is only gonna get more greasy. Pretty humid out there today.

Well…

Good luck, see everyone out there…

I’d better get my ass in gear and get the freaking bars taped and the tires all in order! Not to mention pin my numbers on and make sure I get my shoes.

At least the bike broke in the pre-ride.

Peace!
G

how i feel today... in solobreak's words, i am. I guess. At least by his mark.

I'm anxious about tomorrow. Wondering how the hell i'm gonna prep for it all... how the hell am i going to survive.

What am i going to do?

Course opens at 2pm today. I might join the thousand or so who might be pre-riding it. I expect it to be a big giant massive parking lot of cars and riders trying to get a few laps in the day before.

The goose poop is unbelievable, esp down by the pit areas.

I'm anxious about tires, about which to run, but then i sort of know it doesn't matter that much. Gotta run what i got. Just gotta race. Gotta ride.

I'm tired.

I also writing this for me... to try and document my first year into cross... to try and document that well my views and opinions and ideas have changed. To try and show that, yes. HOlding firm to a position i said a while back may not be good. Realizing and recognizing that as i learn and accumulate knowledge in all aspects of life my position will change. Maybe not so drastically to the point of appreciating 'W' but maybe i'll be more in favor of the Euro style grass crit super fast riding style cross courses with few barriers. Why? Because i find its what i'm better suited too. But it also gives me a goal and a couple specifics that i need to work on to improve my balance as a rider in Cross.

slide over and start pedaling, no jumping or landing on the saddle...

that's the advice of a pro on remounting... makes sense... if ya watch the Fidea team, its what they do...

Well time to head home and take a nap... then make some coffee and head out to the course...

good luck to all who go race, thank you to those who are not racing but are spectators...

thank you to the promoters, the course designers, and the staff of organizers that make this event possible. I may not agree with everything they do, but they are actually doing it and just for that reason need to be appreciated.

Take the lastest bit of stuff on the newenglandcyclocross list... pretty impressive...

its going to be a beautiful weekend racing. I hope everyone does well, races safely, and most importantly has fun.

well this grumpy old sensitive fart is signing off...
gonna go find some coffee and aleve...

my head hurts...

So today – spent the day in hard labor. What some people call work. Lots of walking, heavy lifting, ya know work. It was a nice change. Doing something that is not terribly cerebral.

Couldn’t help but make a few mental notes. Course. And ya didn’t hear it here. The course is not what I would call ideal. Lots of pavement to curb transition. Ride-able steep sections like at Lowell and Plymouth but with stairs. Nice stevens stairs. Take a perfectly difficult, weed out those with shitty power to weight ratios, steep section and make it a running thing.

And defend it with the comment “there just isn’t enough running in cyclocross anymore.”

Bring this thought to bear: why not make the US national cyclocross championship a race that mimics the course where Worlds are held so that our country sends the best riders for that course to compete? Ah does it matter? Nys will beat everyone anyway. Yeah esp if the courses are like this with all the running stuff… not that running should not happen, but… I dunno… I’m obviously biased towards one type of course, which seems to be more or less what, from what I’ve been reading/watching, the current National cyclocross course designer has not done.

The transitions from pavement to grass I find scary. Little wooden ramps? Designed almost to weed out those who cannot afford to run tubulars. Sure I know a couple big name teams doing really well are running clinchers, so that’s not a total truth. Well I guess we’ll see come Friday.

I should take a second to address an individual who’s opinion I respect greatly and who’s friendship I value. But maybe lately it might not seem as such. I deleted his comment made in one post, put it in another entry (maybe he just doesn’t read what he doesn’t want to) and then he decided to come back with the same statement. I had 10 minutes online this afternoon and I was irritated so much that I lashed out. Too crudely too intensely. But after a day working for pretty much three subway sandwiches (which decided they needed to leave my system to make room for better food just a bit ago) and 4 cokes, that sophomoric ridiculous comment about me being a pussy in a post that, sure, from some macho emotionally devoid REAL AMERICAN man might seem to be a bit pussified. And yeah. Sure Solobreak, there are plenty of pictures of WORSE dislocated kneecaps, but the pictures had little to do with my emotions. Meg’s got talent. Talent as a writer. Conveying emotion with a great economy of words. I admire and respect and wish I had that ability. I make due with what I have. I am who I am. If you so decide to call me a pussy. If you so decide that me wearing shorts down to when the temperature reaches 45 degrees (cross races excepted – this year at least) is an attempt to make up for some unknown short comings? Well. Yeah, I know. You are pushing buttons. You are poking around in a hornets nest. That’s okay. Go ahead. I don’t know if any replies popped up there since I posted that. I’m offline. And will be for awhile.

So what to do. Move on I guess. And I will try.

It was cool working with the guys today. The event should be great. The $5 per car fee for the whole weekend kinda is messed up, but maybe it’ll help? (yeah right)

I heard from one individual that they were expressing pure increduality about why there was no major coverage leading up to the US Cyclocross Nationals… so why? Now that I think about it, sure the blogs are buzzin, the 1600 people who are racing are thinking about it. But what about the media, the spectators. The local press? The National Press? Who’s writing the press releases? Who’s sending the media relations packets out?

Have they just not done it? How hard do you have to try to make the US Cyclocross Nationals sound boring? Makes no sense. Oh well…. At least there will be about 1500 spectators. 1600 racers, 100 people smart enough to only show for their event (elites) and ya get 1500 spectators.

I’ve finally been talked out of prepping the Redline to be a pit bike. Seeing as I have not yet managed to make it work, seeing as I would have no time to ride it much less prep for the race, and seeing as I’ve been racing without a spare bike all year… I’m going to focus on cleaning my bike, preppin the legs, the mind. I think honestly maybe solobreak may be working to destroy my mental edge for the race… maybe its working. Racing two days? Who would do such a thing? Me. Why? Cross is cool. Cross is amazing. Even on a Tom Stevens course its fun. I might disagree with his point of view on the dilution and destruction of the sport by the Europeans sketching around the rules and making the courses too dependant on being strong riders (wait… it’s a cycling discipline right?).

I’m tired. Worn out. Not recovered from this weekend. Racing while keeping a family going and dealing with a job (even if it isn’t like what I did all day today) on top of trying to both recover and prepare… is tough. I can’t just come home, put my feet up, take a nap, wake up eat some pasta, get into bed, surf the net, fall asleep, wake up repeat. But that’s okay. It makes what I can accomplish, what I can do, all that much better.

There was plenty of talk about the numbers. I asked the course designer about putting in a prologue lap to stretch out the field. Ya know run them on the road all the way to the end. The reply was “Prologue laps are only for letting the spectators see, not for stretching out the field.” Or something like that – may not be a direct quote. I’m not a journalist, and I wasn’t taking notes. Although I believe that quote to be more accurate than most journalistic attempts. Okay not most, some. Many writers actually do a great job of communicating what the interviewee said. I’ve been interviewed enough times to know to expect that the quotes are going to come across in the written word NOT how they came out of my mouth.

Gotta stop for a minute. Take a turn watching the girls.

I got more rattling around in here, I might get back on. We’ll see. Reading through the first race announcement just now “second largest cycling event in the country”

No shit? That’s amazing.

Anyway… ‘Ctrl + s’

or do they just make a massively pissy vibe... me no pull punches or be all vague like a certain small one's comments:

So of course I head to the New England cycling blogosphere, and therein lies mistake number one. I really can't handle anymore of "My Race Report - a run on sentence of epic proportions" or "An Illustrated Guide to My Training As It Stands So Far" or any "Incoherent Ramblings That Make No Sense to Anyone other than Me, in 4 point font". Just.Can't.Take.It.Any.More.

Ouch...

then a degree of separation comes this comment following my admittedly unmanly post capturing my feelings after i read Meg's synopsis of her dislocated knee...

You are such a pussy. No wonder you think you have to go out wearing shorts in 30 degree weather to prove your manhood.

For the record - i wear shorts down to 45 degrees... 45 at the start of the ride... like last night - it was in the upper 40s when i left, lower 40s and 30s when i got home. But shorts.

It ain't manlyness. its dermal conditioning. increasing the dermal basal metabolic rate is a good thing. something you can't do if you load up with layer after layer...

its not a matter of manlyness...

but not that it matters - mr solobreak can come up with what ever reason he wants to to explain my peculiar habits and quirks...

Why use a warming balm when you can condition yourself to tolerate the cool air when riding?

case in point why Eric Marro is called the nicest guy in the peloton and F'n Foley ain't...

Its exam week here... and quiet... scopes are all working well... getting caught up on simple things... few distractions, few questions...

Honestly... my eyes are not dry right now... I'm blink back tears...

Why?

Well i just had a chance to read Meg's blog.

Sure, i might be an emotional fool. Passion is one of my weaknesses and strenghts. a double edge sword. Hard core anger and intense off the handle words unchecked but coupled with crippling empathy and love for friends and family... right now its crippling. maybe this is too revealing, but MegA... get well... heal up... the season is over for you and me, well i dont' have much longer either... next year is going to be so epicly AWESOME! lets keep that in focus!

Just think Meg, no excuses for not collecting kick ass video!

Having a house guest that is a world class cyclocross racer! Not just that, i mean a kid fresh out of the U23 ranks got there on talent more or less only... but there is nothing like experience backing up perspectives and advice...

Its almost all i can do to not fire off question after question ;) sort a kidding but i'll admit, i'm not terribly shy about asking questions...

Molly mentioned "Trebon (I hate the treefarm nickname)" and this morning riding in i had an idea (one of many, as a warning).

drop Treefarm and pick TREBONATOR.

Treefarm is cool and descriptive of his and my and Rich and Wicks but... TREBONATOR...

that is tough, definitely a more kick ass nickname. Gotta see about getting loudmouth Richard to use it this weekend.

And you read "TREBONATOR" here first. (Google indicates no other references on line).

Along the Kona lines, i got a chance to meet Urbanus, i mean Tonkin. Sumbitch not only has a fuzzy face but fuzzy legs... how does he get the embrocation to his skin?

Tonk's damn freaking cool. So's his wife. She's fast and v.nice. Hard to believe that they flew in on the red eye friday night and then raced Saturday AND Sunday to fly back home for the week before coming back. Urbanus said its what he has to do so he can go race in Belgium. Pretty amazing what they were able to accomplish with the travel and all.

The whole added responsibilities of being a parent, with a job and all that really get spotlighted when hanging out with pro-athletes. Gotta say this past weekend really was fantastic. Hell Henry even got pictures of me at the start line of the woman's race on sunday... resplendant in my orange MDOT suit with blue T-shirt giving it a dutch feel.

I need to go back and write up the weekend racing. Might have a chance today. We'll see.
Cyclocrossworld, crappiest journalism in the world. No citation for where they are stealing the stories. But they do have the new Challenge Grifo on sale that Bart Wellens just won on. I can't find where i read the snippet of Bart mentioning the tires... oh wait - of COURSE its on the web page trying to SELL these Tubulars. Bart's not the only pro that will be sporting them soon. Christine Vardaros will hopefully find her set waiting in Belgium. Of course until then she will have to make due with her Dugast tubulars...

I grabbed my fancy brass salmon scale that was my grandfathers and double checked the weight of my bike in race trim. 22 pounds. Okay, 22.5. Christine's? 18. *sigh* damn my bike is a freaking TANK. Zipp 404 pave/cross wheels or old school Heliums both bikes pretty much bang on 18 pounds. Man i could gain like 10 spots dropping 4 pounds. Or not. Right now i'm still at the point in my racing where bike weight is not what's holding me back... Maybe next year it will start to be a factor...

Just please please please have LOTS of long inclines for us to ride up... PLEASE Gene and Paul... make a course at Nats for ME... Hell gimme something like Wrentham.

But then looking at the results... even the Casters course which i felt didn't suit me as well wound up with similar placings...

in the email today Swobo popped up a major DROOL item:Men's Organic J-Mak Knicker Damn downside... its $95...

Hell i'm better off just going to Old Navy Outlet and buying some cargo pants for $25 and putting a hem in them... But Swobo is just a freaking kick ass company... or at least they have an appealing image...

Man, talk about doing a million things at once, nothing like that to disrupt the flow.

Anyway, i'll be donning the wellies and helping tomorrow... we'll see if the rain holds off or not... weather is looking to be about the best we've had all season of racing... fucking insane... if it stays this dry and clean... finger points to the Trebonator to put on the jersey...

okay - gonna publish - will add some 'introspection' into the anti-embrocation position i've been babbling on about soon... Oh and i noticed that the Excel sports catalog lists a 16-27 Ultegra 10sp cassette... 16-27... farking BRILLIANT, seriously... that's be awesome for cross.... nice and tight gearing, lots of teeth for slop resistance... i wonder if there's a 9speed version (nope)... and looking at the 9 speed cassettes going to the 12-27 seems kinda pointless. Lemme keep the damn 12-25 with the 21, 23, 25 instead of the 12-17 with the 21, 24, 27... two teeth spacing in the top vs three? Ah well, like i mentioned, the equipment isn't holding me back. not in the least... okay well maybe, the shit does flex a major hell uv a lot so... a stiffer bike might just actually make me a bit faster... but by how much? A minute over the race? If so, well that's a lot of places... hmm...

ah well... nothing to do about it this year... maybe i'll get a Ridley, see'n as we are now a Ridley sponsored team... The new Kit actually is starting to look pretty cool... can't wait.

okay - peace
-G

well blogger style anyway...

periodically (technically not, because there is not enough data points to establish an interval with any regularity) i post a list of the open tabs links...

these links grew from one "open tabs" folder to now, 4 of them... crazy eh?

And honestly - i need to reshuffle, re-organize. Some of the ones that i've put on the less often open list need to be moved and a few of the open often ones haven't been updated in a long time...

Most i read, some i just check for cool pictures... and then read... but outside of a Cyclingnews, PEZ and Velonews here's the lists... strung together in rather random order to reduce the hurting of feelings by those who may or may not be listed near the top... order has nothing to do with the frequency of reading:

kerrylitka gwadzilla solobreak Zoo Ace Girl Races CTodd MegA drunkcyclist Feltslave MIF The Mad Dog GoClipless.com Frank FRAZZZ unhryan The Tree FarmToo TallCyclocrossWorld Race Cyclocross! Plus One Lap rscyclocross blog Quick and Dirty Too Vanilla For You In These Woods molly cameron ColtNew England Blogger 'Cross Series Points Competition A New England Masters Cycling Team fatmarc Cyclocross Babble toddwells.net Christine "Peanut" Vardaros Broken Spokes and Funny Clothes 32sixteen Moderately Insane Dan Schmatz Jeremy Powers RACING UNION Michele's blog. Flatman Bolder Up in Alaska Paul's Web Log Suds What I Think Matt's Daily Blog Unintelligent Design Ride More, Talk Less lonefrontranger Mickey’s blog thelittlering nicomachus.net supAfan.com Union Velo Blog Il Bruce KickSomeAsphalt Murat

Damn that's a couple there....

But that's the list... and one of these days i'll update the stuff over there on the side bar...

just not yet...

http://www.specialized.com/bc/microsite/holiday/index.html


because well... the music was cool..

the animation with it- takes the cake...

THIS is finally worth a link from GeWilli...

The man in the orange jumpsuit!

I'll get em up... but they won't match Zoo's.

not sure when i'll get em up... some day soon, maybe...

One thing to note, the guy i finished behind on Saturday decided to race a bit longer on sunday... so i've got a decent marker for the elite field.

Saturday's course was more me than Sunday. I had no running legs on Sunday, could barely get my knees up in the air... wicked fucking tough.

Saturday was bitching awesome course. Headwind and power riding, off camber shit that Zoo's field really couldn't ride, but all the B Masters in the front group was having no problems with. The wide open straights with great site lines meant i was able to dig deep and catch and pass people. Me and Bill were battling it out. Its kinda been Rob, Bill and Me... the other two serving as markers for one. Pretty cool. Even starting 3rd row i managed to hit the first section in the top 10-15, and was on my way up through the fast road riders who were having problems handling their bikes when i wiped out on the still frozen second grass hairpin after the playground... lost 5 places or more... was rather wobbly (according to Theo) for a while after that - i was cleaning grass out of the shifter for a bit and yeah... i was rather like... fuck me that sucked... but i eventually caught and passed the guy who i was trying to get around there... and then caught the group lead by Doonan... taking an MRC rider up to the that group with me and then i rode through them... Theo attacked and i was working hard to stick on his wheel... the first two laps were very fast... and i felt a bit of a slowing, but i wasn't getting passed and i wasn't loosing contact with Theo. Definately wicked motivating to stick on a wheel... i tried to bridge enough of a gap so i could come around him on that last up hill sprint on the pavement, but no dice... and he was plenty strong enough for the sprint. He wound up 53 our of 61 on sunday in the A masters after finishing 9th saturday. I dunno how i would done in the races on either day in the masters field. Definately felt much better on saturday. Sunday.

Well there was extra added freaky drama (long before the Meg incident). I forgot to load my shoes in the car. I got both of Christine Vardaros's bikes loaded, her bags of stuff, my waterbottles, helment, skinsuit, and stuff... but somehow the bag with MY shoes in it... got left. In a panic i called home. for 5 or 10 minutes i kept calling. It was ringing, WTF did my wife leave her phone at home (if so i was gonna be in big trouble)... finally 8:20 she answers, my shoes arrived with 60 seconds to spare before the start.

NOT the way to prep for a race. The nerves and elevated HR and adrenaline and just oh shit factor definately sapped my strength, what little was left after a late night saturday and an early morning.

My pre-riding was done wearing running shoes... and i was fully prepared to ride the first lap in them and make the switch in the pits if the girls didn't get there in time for the start. But fortunately that didn't happen.

I tried to stick with O'mara, but he fucking moto-crossed the paved corners like a monkey riding on rails... dude is fucking IMPRESSIVE!!! Holy shit... that course suited him way more than me...

I wanted more elevation gain in long stretches... i could pass people no problem on the hills, i wish we'd run it backwards... coming up the hill to the finish or something. Then, i think i would have done better.

But i can't complain. scoring consistent top 10s in the B Master's is a decent bit of results that makes me rather satisfied with my improvement. And yet again Jack Madden was only two or three spots behind me. Its funny. Canton, MRC, and Casters the three races we both raced... he was always just a few places behind me...

Well, Next weekend will be easier. NO holiday parties, at this point no birhtday parties, and Friday i'm the only one racing, sunday... i race early (10:30) and Christine races later...

It will be very strange to have a 2pm race. Not sure how to prepare... cause i've gotten pretty well used to starting at 9 or 10am... 2? yikes this'll be an adjustment.

That and it might rain in the AM... I hope its a wide open slug fest with lots of power sections with steep but ridable hills... ones that others have to get off and run but i can ride (like Lowell and Plymouth)...

Well that concludes this little coffee drinking session...

peace my dear and close friends. And, shoot - A big HEY to Rich (MRC)... thanks for introducing yourself... and thanks for the mid race cheering as i went past (and then you passed me back for a second)... it was great to meet ya!

Remember to wish Meg a speedy recovery.

-gewilli

whirlwind is the best way to describe it... and right now its the most succinct way to share how i feel... i've been through a whirlwind and am twisted all up...

couldn't sleep last night at all... too much caffine? legs in too much pain? dehydrated? i dunno... all of the above? yeah prolly...

Off the top, far more important than anything else.

MegA, the glorious, gracious, loud and always smiling, MegA... dislocated her knee cap on Sunday and was carted off in an ambulance... She crashed in the sand, hard, and word from JD as he was madly packing up the booth he was unable to man (unable to move product) was that she was going to be okay, but was under some heavy pain killers.

Pass a word of get well on to Meg, and JD if you have a moment. When i hear a couple guys talking and one saying it was meg on the beach my heart sank. I got a emotional sucker punch in the gut. First i was worried 'cause i hadn't seen Christine in a while and all i knew from gossip was that a girl crashed in the sand. I wasn't sure how she would crash in the sand but it was a pre-ride lap and anything can happen. Just as I spotted CV i heard... Relief was smashed into bits of dispair and depression.

Meg's just one of those people you can't help but really like. And talking with JD on saturday, i've got nothing but heaps of admiration for that guy.

I've got two race reports to write, a long bit of prep, some pit excitement (i was hanging out with Gunnar Shogren. GUNNAR... yeah! Ain't that just fucking COOL?) Meeting Mo's husband was great. Stu throne laughing like a little girl when Mo and Rhonda crashed on sunday was pretty dissapointing. He noticed that they crashed and well laughed... Shit ya don't have to be a dick head. I did meet ol'loud mouth richard...

so...

great freaking weekend.

I'm TOTALLY completely spent...

need to figure out how exactly to recover for Friday. But I feel pretty comfortable that i should be able to get it done, and hopeful that i can maybe get some very direct advice on how to make my spin chilling (to the pro's) remounts better... as in gain spots not fall a bike length or two behind... cause i have a feeling, bike lengths will be very important for me this weekend...

Stay Tuned... and please send the love to Meg and JD...

in being a stubborn cyclist in this weather...

WOOOO

I did pass some other dude on the path this morning... he was strugglin to turn the middle or small ring over going into the wind...

Me? I was working on my tuck.

And another thought, i was doing the anti-motorpacing workout.

What's that you say? Ride as hard as you can into a headwind gusting up to 2x your ground speed while maintaining 90 rpms...

And under those conditions my tuck position was AMAZINGLY better than out on the "hoods" it was nice not having the trailer for a change into a headwind.

Can't afford a wind tunnel test? Wait till we have a north or a south wind blowing 20+mph and come work on your aero position on the East Bay Bike Path... when its this could there's the extra added bonus of the path being nearly deserted!

We're up to: 26/8; 24/10; 26/13 (actual/wind chill)
With winds: NW 18; NW 18; NW 18; NW 18 (damn - the ones that say gusting also are all the same at gusts at 28 mph)

Amazingly consistent... maybe the winds are actually NW at 18... I should be able to get home in RECORD time...

its friday... 4pm... lecture went well... Gotta store samples at -20°C for the weekend... and i'm outa here.... maybe i'll swing through the HUB... see how those folks be doin... time to put the layers on...

Woo hoo... layers...

to betablogger? i dunno... i'm too old to deal with beta shit - give me the final version when its finished...

Its cold. I'm colder here in my office than i was riding in. Currently they are saying its 22°F with a "realfeel" of 2°F

that's cold...

in case some of yall ain't been outside...

but funny thing is - i'm colder sitting here on my ass in my office prepping for lecture than i was riding it...

Well see if i can get through talking about vacuum ranges, electron sources, accelerating voltage, and sample prep without accidentally taking about barriers mud cold and other things cross...

that or try and keep myself awake, not to mention keep the lecture moving along enough to keep the Audience awake...

-Sleepy G

Got up this morning - hearing the wind howling, i turn on the TV (after showering and making coffee)... WholyFUCK its cold out there 17 degrees... damn... that's some right nipply weather... top it off with a bitching head wind ride to work.

Got worse tho - checked the TV again... just before leaving... its 16 degrees... an hour after the sun rose (yeah - i was running late)...

But the littlest didn't feel so good this morning - so she's staying home with everyone else (day off for my other two girls) so at least i wasn't draggin the trailer into a 20-30 mph wind... Gale warnings are great ain't they?

Loading the car last night with our house guest's stuff at the airport was an adventure... woulda been cake without the carseat and the littlest one, but... well a double bike box and a wheel box + car seat... its a tough fit in a Golf... but everything got home eventually.

Tomorrow morning is gonna be hard for those who can't take the cold... its gonna be cold... i'm gonna maybe even be cold for a change... or not... i have yet to put a base layer on under the skinsuit... might do that for tomorrow... we'll just have to see what the temps are when i'm suiting up...

Coolest thing brought as a thanks for letting me stay gift was a Set of team trading cards with Erwin vervecken, bart wellens, and Petr Dlask's team... I got Petr Dlask's trading card... WOOOOOO

I got the Fidea Cycling Team trading cars... *big grin*... not only that but it looks like Bart pulled off an upset win over Nys!

I'm geeked for this week... and next weekend...

This one looks to be complicated further by the youngest feeling under the weather and a just announced today holiday party that the director here is throwing... sigh...

once through the weekend i think it'll be okay...

weather at least is supposed to get nice and warm next week...

gonna try and do the rest during the week thing after two weekends - work next week on skills, and letting the legs recover after the double (assuming i survive the first day and make it to the second intact)...

okay...

Coffee time... over...

peace out and waffles and all that jazz
G

not gonna hit the big whorehouse sale... woops did i say whore house? the house if dick fries... i mean whats his name with the big mouth who works sort of for pedros...

can't justify the time... or the money... deals may be unreal... but no money for the stuff means even the best deal ain't a wise move...

had an adventurous morning with the youngest... its toilet training time... those dads (and moms) out there can appreciate the fun of "i have to go potty" and then nothing... and then peeing on the floor... and then ah well...

its all good... gotta start some where... most of us (save some Neanderthals like ____) eventually transitioned out of diapers...

fun fun fun

Weather sounds good for this weekend, sort of... should be rather interesting racing in the AM with the big field... on both days... cold, slick, fun...

and both new courses for me... like all of them this year... and that's exciting...

Next year it won't be as new and i can have this years experience to draw on prepping for the different courses... maybe next year we'll actually have nice cross weather...

but...

i can't complain too much - its been nice...

Last night 44 degrees, headed home with shorts and a LS jersey. Old school Klein. Yall remember that yellow red and white one? The one before the buyout? Mmmm old school. Klein...

One of these days i'll get out and go mt biking again!

One of these days i'll get out and actually ride when i'm not commuting...

And as wonderful as KL is trying to make running sound... not a chance you'll catch me running unless its to chase after the girls or something like that... and the girls being my children, not the college coeds... just a wee bit of clarification

and Meg's blog is up and running again...

time to get running and all that jazz...

hoping i'm in an all day parking spot...

peace ...
G

Frazz is just kickASS

I'm feeling like i'm running about 25 PSI low in a cross race...

in other words... flat...

Slow, tired...

could be the talking for 6 hours today... 6 hours? have i even been here that long?

Yup... it was an early day...

Woa...

Gonna be a slow ride home tonight i can tell... and if that don't just add insult to the "injury"

Farking wind is picked up and blowing more or less as a headwind. Poooooooooop
here's the break down:

Weather Underground...
Wind: 21 mph / 33 km/h from the SSW
Wind Gust: 25 mph / 41 km/h

Google Weather...
Wind: S at 13 mph

AccuWeather.com...
Winds: SSW at 21mph

Weather.com...
Wind: From SSW at 19 mph gusting to 25 mph

Channel 10 weather .com...
21 mph Winds SSW

At least i'm sort of going south or slightly SSE...

not much different... still a bitchin strong head wind.

But they are all consistent with the temp... 44°F
Shorts baby... shorts!

WOOOOT

Taking tomorrow off more or less -

oh and this photo sort of seems to make me look a bit bottom heavy

That and it reminds me... i need ta clean off the bike... hopefully the two coats of wax the beast got on Saturday will facility the clean up... nice funky disiloxane something or other wax... Westleys IIRC... used to use it on the Boats when i worked for Hinckleys... Would wax the paint above the waterline trim, after washing them, while the boats were sitting out on poppets... waxing a sail boat hull is easier than a bike, just takes way more product and time... but its flat and smooth...

Ah well,

Don't for get your Cyclocross Nationals Fantasy League picks... Look for the gal who's been racing in Europe all year to be the dark horse...

peace out folks...

and yeah, i made waffles today... MMMmmm tasty....
G

I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
- Stephen Hawking

Cyclocross National Fantasy GAME!

Need not be a blogger to play.

All ya have to do is pick the top 5 in:

Elite Men

Elite Women

U23

Send me an email with your picks, include your name (and if you wish to remain anonymous)...

Deadline Wed Dec 13th for entries...

Email: send to g e w i l l i @ g m a i l . c o m
(remove spaces)

Points for picking the top 5 correctly - more points for getting the order right, but still points for picking the top five in any order... fewer right the fewer the points.

LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED...

GeWilli will give the winner a prize in person (gewilli will not fly to the ends of the earth to deliver said prize)... you need not be 21 to enter, you may need to be 21 to partake of the prize... or not...

the more entries the longer it will take to process the results... i reserve the right to establish tie breaks... or to just have a tie for the lead...

but...

picking top five in all three should be hard enough, that few should pick the same in the same order...

Send em in..

spread the word (to a degree, i'd rather not deal with 500 entries)...

Peace out
G

and poor Jack (at the hub) got hosed yet once again. Has he been forgetting to pin the number on or something? Or just a day of where the name didn't line up with the number so good... i seem to recall he got hosed back at Canton as well...

Solobreak posting about the Battenkill race... (sounds epic from last years race reports)

ZoozieQ posting about wanting snow... well mo-fo... its been snowing here on and off all fucking day... not accumulating much and the temp has finally popped about the freezing mark by a degree or two...

should be plenty cool enough for his ass on Saturday and Sunday morning. I'm still not sure how the hell the shit will work in terms of getting me and everything else where its supposed to be for the whole damn weekend... why does this time of year have to get turned into such a monster clusterfuck of activities and scheduling?

Question is... will GeWilli get time to work his mediocre cross skills into more polish for the racing this weekend... fortunately he's racing early enough that none of the super stars will be at the course in time to witness his amazing prowess on the bike and the deer like remounts and the sheer power some tall skinny freak can lay down on his wet noodle of a cross bike... power to the pedals... um... right...

Oh and is anyone else saying attendance will be down at KC next year? or is it just me postulating?

I'll see about getting the Nats FL up and going... maybe tomorrow... or not...

Anyone going to the Pedros/Mavic/Adiddas warehouse sale this week? Gewilli's thinking about making an inquisitory expedition on thursday... ifn anyone wants ta tag along lemme know...

Gewilli's wondering why the fuck he's talking ala MIF...

and no...

me not linking NUTTING above...

although maybe me should...

hmmm link or not...

i'll be anti-kl...

NO LINK FOR YOU

i think i'm only making gewilli laugh at this

gewilli's gonna change and saddle up the P-mount with the trailer and ride his skinny ass home... hoping the left quad works its shit out and stops hurting like a mo-fo sumbitch sooner than later...

Peace and waffles...
G

Oh and its actually getting kinda depression... cross season is almost over for those not able to travel to Belgium. So fucking sad... depressing... although the battenkill is offering a glimmer of hope as to what the next season will bring... its not cross... and its wicked damn far away (both in time and distance)...

4 races left...

sigh...

gewilli's done 9 races so far...

which...

actually is pretty good for some old married working fart with two little kids...

Noticing the Ted i "raced" with there at Bob Beal will finally be at the same cross race as me, same category too... he talked big cross then... will be good to catch up and see how he's been this season...

finally... GeWilli might shut up... and go home... he's outa steam... sleepy... maybe its time for some burrito action tonight... as in eat 2-3 pounds of burritos... mmmm beans.... maybe i'll make some rice to go with it... gewilli is obviously delirious cause he can't fucking stop typing hitting publish post now... sparing myself reading any more of this later on...

Oh and sub zero ride... this morning...
Sub zero °C... that is...

Kinda nice...

My left quad's feeling a bit ouchy... mighta over done it on sunday maybe... so i kinda just took it easy...

And well, KL hasn't kicked my ass yet but... At least she's being honest ;) She just set herself up so well... if you walk into your own trap its no ones fault but your own... Then again, maybe she is specifically talking about her own blog when she made the comments that i sort of put "in context"

That terry bit on NPR is good... although, aren't widgets Mac mostly? The Windoze ones are 100% spyware performance killers. Stick with the Firefox plugins. Much less intrusive... I'll be honest i check that all the time. if they could stick the wind speed in there first i'd love it. I check the Accuweather one there in the FireFox plugin and the Google personalized home page one and often weather.com and weather underground as well... problem is, all four never agree... but if one says the wind is out of the N, another the WNW and anther NNW and yet another one W ... but all around 15 mph +/- 3 then i know i'll have a decent tail wind on the way home... and at the worst a slight cross wind...

Right now i'm looking down and seeing 29°F ears were not covered on the way in...

Oh and its that time of year... time to start bitching out the drivers who could ride but choose to drive and choose to dump 2-10x more pollutants into the air than in the summer months. If your car doesn't warm up (not heater warm, oil temp and exhaust/catalytic converter) temp ya really messing up the car and the environment. Its just bad.

Ride the bike.

Easy to bundle up, stick a layer on or two. Get nice and warm. and ride... its invigorating!

And we'll have to revisit the Fantasy standings. Points for placings. If ya pick Wicks as #1 and he only makes #4 cause Mahk the Shahk beat him in a sprint yet once again for 3rd... well ya'd still get points but not as many as someone who picks NAsty for #4...

Oh and the whole BCS thing. You'd still have to run the race. But run it with 25 guys, or 15 guys... Ala the ranking system. not 75 or 100 who think they have a shot.

But then, that's why they do the races, anyone can win, sort of.

And the biggest problem with the season long ranking is that say someone is peaking for worlds, not nationals, say they are constantly getting better and better, but there's some hot shot roadie that can handle the bike who's scoring major wins early in the season or consistently placing high but starts to fade just before nationals and goes completely in the shitter after nats cause they just so burned out...

well enough coffee break musings...

peace (and anticipation)
G

Ya know... plugged everyones stuff into the computer... used NEBRA (assuming they actually could make the system work) VERGE and whatever races with UCI rankings to come up with the top 25 in each age group/category and invited the sumbitches to show up and compete for the event.

Would everyone be happy? What if we included the top 50.

Prolly not. Hell the BCS doesn't even freaking work for football.

Michigan, only loss to #1 Ohio State, and only by 3 points... Wisconsin's only loss is to Michigan...

and Florida is ranked #2? they didn't play like it this weekend from what i briefly saw...

Hell maybe we Cross BCS and just hand out the Nats jersey to Treefarm. he'd like that but i bet Timmy J, JPow and the rest would be a bit pissed...

Chances are it won't take too many brain cells to pick out the top 5 finishers in each category at Nats.

Hmmm...

screw this blogger cross...

I'm gonna have Cyclocross National Championship Fantasy League. Seriously. Pick your top 5 finishers for each race... or for select races (elites, women, masters) and how they will finish.

Winner gets a wicked cool prize... Details coming soon!

Off the bat, from chatting with Rob Bauer after Sterling, i was excited about this race. I've been battling position wise with Rob most of the races. I noticed him for some reason, maybe it was the red ear warmers under the helmet. Or the fact that there's something that is alot like a good friend... Anyway. It was a busy weekend off the bat. Lots of things to accomplish and getting a chance to get away and race was a huge blessing. Up to the last minute (well at 6:30am anyway) there was some question if i was heading up alone or with the whole family. My wife's still been on and off under the weather since the bout with Mono while we were in Maine. this weekend was one of the under ones... so she elected to stay and sleep as long as the girls would.

So the night before i had some miracle training. Sort of. Well i wanted pasta, nice red sauce, and i wanted to make it with a bit of wine. Tomato sauce isn't the same without some wine. It has an amazing affect on the flavor - hard to describe but easy to taste. And well, there wasn't any wine in the bottle when i was cleaning up the dishes. I did balance the consumption of it with lots of water and popped a bottle of gatorade before bed... for the hell of it... Woke up feeling pretty good... rubbed a bit of arnica into the major muscle groups... made a quad with a touch of sugar... and that's it. No food. We'll see. maybe a good idea, but i knew i had all the extra calories processed from the massive amount of pasta the night before as well as the alcohol processing in my liver. Actual calories in store should be fine, just a matter to see if i can convince an empty stomach of that fact.

So well... i get the car loaded, swing through DD for my 24oz black coffee, head over to the B20 pump, tank was below 1/4 and i wasn't sure how far and didn't like the possibility of sitting in Patriots traffic on the way home anxious about how much fuel i had in the tank. But. Pump was going slowly... very slowly... fuck... stopped after 4 gallons... and headed north.

No traffic.

Get there no problem. Park. Get my number. To 'toughen' myself up i didn't have the heat on in the car. Maybe stupid. I got there and was shaking getting the number, even holding the coffee... so... i walked down to survey the course a second... folks warming up and all that... and well... i figured i'd better get changed. Headed back to the car, jumped in, turned it on and turned up the heat... perfect. I warmed up and wasn't cold after that all day. Drank only 1/2 the coffee before the race. And found that the hunger pangs that were starting were quenched with 20 oz of gatorade. Chugged a red bull 40 minutes before the start of the race (dunno why 40 minutes, but it seemed to work before). Checked the air in the tires... 50 psi... good enough, they are clinchers... 34c... specialized... Before Zoo's race i had asked if he'd pre-ridden (Yes) and what it was like, slow, so i asked fat slicks or narrow tread? he said narrow... i went with fat slicks (my 34s).

And i roll out. Started off with a base layer on, but i had to take that off - it was too warm with it on under the LS SS. Pre-rode a bit of the course. Got a feeling for the corners, but not the critical hairpin at the bottom of the hill... no worries... So a few gulps and gurgles of plain old water (to purge the sugars and what not) i head down and line up... 3rd row. Rob and O'mara are in front of me. I know Rob's generally been finishing around me all season, i knew O'Mara was 2nd at sterling. 55+ guy was on my left. We were all chatting away, someone said 'hey could be worse, we could be sitting on the couch all day watching football' or something and as soon as it was out his mouth the whistle blew... pretty much everyone was caught off guard. And we went out. I didn't have a great start, but i started working past people right away. Once we hit that single track i was passed by one or two but i hooked onto every wheel that went past me on that first lap... passed more than passed me... once out of the woods i realized i was up decently high. I didn't have the luxury of team mates or friends telling me my placings and timings and what not... so all i knew was there were TONS of people behind me and not many in front.

Well at one point i notice i'm coming up on Rob... and i hook on for the first lap after the climb through the grass. No better wheel to follow than the dude who designed the course eh? He did pick a brilliant line... pretty much the one i would have picked but following a wheel is much less work than picking a line... At some point i decided - okay - time to gass it and get around... found O'Mara at some point just up ahead... either i worked up to him or he worked back to me or we worked through everyone together and wound up in a 'group' not with him, not sitting on his wheel but not getting too far behind... I was loosing a few bike lengths at remounts... and that was killin me mentally... and i worked hard to gain those spots back... need to not lose time there anymore. So then it finally feels like i'm racing... lap two - its hurting but man i can ride the bike, i LIKE the course... i can put time into everyone on the dirt climb it was nice... it went up and i could bridge a bit of time up... i think i lost a touch of time in the corners... i was having to tip toe with those baldies if i didn't hit the grass... maybe Zoo was right... maybe the Vreds and i'd have passed O'Mara and maybe placed higher than i did.

At anyrate. The race progressed... i raced... one, maybe two people came by me, one was at the start of lap 2 or 3, some guy went flying past me, then flying past O'Mara... and kept going... dunno what his story was but the dude was FLYING... we were slow or something... Battled back and forth with the CCB rider. last lap we started picking up the tail of the woman's field. Passing them mostly in the back sections...

At anyrate... i finished... 9th. out of 51 listed. top 10...

ahead of rob... just behind O'Mara... on the rivet the whole race... race was short... would have been nice to do one more lap... legs still are killin me today... so at least i know i emptied the tank, and knowing that one lap to go... i did kill it pretty good...

Verge will be interesting this weekend. with the 9am starts and all that... And yeah... I'll have at least one goal in mind... Catch Zoo... second goal... repeat top ten... and start the race trying to get past as many as possible before we hit the Cs...

I like how they sorted out the 35 and 45 groups at Cheshire on saturday. 3 minutes.

THAT is a great idea... I wonder if Verge is paying attention... or who ever is running the verge series... or the individual races... will follow that lead.

maybe not 3 minutes... maybe 2? 1/3 of a lap or 1/2 lap? something more than 30 seconds...

Ah well... I don't think i'll be cracking the elite master's podium this year but i do feel very satisfied with my progress this year. I have been making significant gains in all aspects of Cross. I have concrete and specific things i know i need to improve. And a good idea of what to do to get there. Maybe in 5 years i can crack the elite masters podium at the ideal gewilli course... maybe sooner... next year will tell...

Next year will be interesting. Esp in light of how the Nats are going. Already its rumored that the promoters have so hose bagged the event that it'll tank like Mt Biking did...

And i have a hard time believing it, but... is it true? No prize money for the national events? That and its NOT a UCI event? is that normal? are the other national championships non-uci?

I like the qualifying events. I like the idea of either states or regions having a race that determines who is eligible to compete at the national level in the distinct categories.

Not to mention, all year we race in combined 35-45 fields. Yet at Nationals (and Bob Beal) the races are broken down into 5 year age groups...

yeah yeah yeah enough of my bitching and speculating... it was a great race this weekend. Looking forward to next week!