Crazy 'Cross

Check out this picture from the Boulder Cx #2 Single Speed race.

Boulder UCI

Here are the leaders.

Photo from Sunday

Naomi making it look easy as she begans the painful running section of Boulder Cx race.

Found this picture here which only has picture of the really fast people.

Photos from Saturday

I forgot my camera both days and forget my new phone takes pictures so here are a few I found at a THF site. No pictues of Paddy.

Naomi running the sand pit.

I am slogging through the mud!

'Cross weekend update

Arapahoe Ridge Cross Results
Me - Poor start put me in the middle of the field of 35+, Cat4s. Churned mud for 45 mins finishing in 18th out of 33.
Paddy - 9th in the Cat3s but officially DNF'd by the Officials due to some screw up.
Naomi - Rocked the house with a 3rd place finish in the Open Womens division.

Boulder Cross #2 Results
Me - Another poor start put me in a position to chase down riders in the 35+, Cat 4s, finished 28th out of 57 riders. Doubled up and raced the Single Speeds where I finished 7th out of 9.
Paddy - No dnfs, but instead had him finishing 3rd.
Naomi - The official results have her coming in 15th out of 24 in the Open Womens division.
Noonan - Showed up and finished 13th racing in the Mens Open race.

A great weekend! Raced bikes, drank beer, cleaned bikes, drank beer, and did over all over again.

No racing until Sunday, so a day of rest and then back to work on those starts!

First Snow

The snow came yesterday, so I headed the gym for a quick workout on the stationary bikes. I rode to a video from Boulder that starts at the Res, climbs up Lee Hill Rd, and loops back to the Res via Nelson Rd. A decent dvd for mindless indoor workouts. The roads were ridable after my indoor session, maybe a quick spin this evening.

The 411 on the weekend of 'cross.
Sat: Arapahoe Ridge Cross
Sun: Boulder Racing

B/F Cross

Brecktober Cross - I felt good during warmup and the course seem pretty fast so I was hoping for a good finish. Had a great start and was going well untill the first runup where I t-boned some guy who decided to dismount sideways across my bow. Went from 5th to 15th in a matter of seconds. Ended up 20th after a futile chase back to the front. A friend Kevin ended up with the W. Cooled down a bit and went back watch the races with beer in the backpack. Drizzle and snow rounded out the rest of day. The family joined me in time for a dinner of mexican in downtown Breck.

Frisco Cross - There was snow on the ground in Breck and I was preparing for a sloppy day of 'cross, but by the time I made it to Frisco the ground was dry. The course was a great one with a lot of variation - a road climb, sandy run-up, and speedy descent. With a short warm-up I picked a second row starting position. Good start up the paved hill and hit the dirt in around 6th place, lost a little ground as I struggled up the first of many run-ups. I found my groove and raced into 7th place.

Snow is in the forcast for the next few days which is ok as I have domestic chores to catch up on.

Two days of racing in Boulder this coming weekend. Looks like Paddy and Naomi are cruising through Boulder on Sunday. I will be bringing the Hoegaarden!

Off to the mountains!

A weekend in the thin air racing 'cross.

Its a plum theme?

Will continue to tweak the colors...

Who Gar Den

The Belgiums make a fine wheat bier, since 'cross season is in full swing this has become a staple to my training table (or back deck). The weather took a turn to full on fall earlier in the week. I had to deal with some issues regarding running, spin class, or riding in the cold. As always, riding in the cold damp weather is better than sitting in a small dank room with sweaty bodies on a bike going nowhere. I headed out yesterday morning with the temp hovering around 35 degrees and a fog hanging over Rooney Valley. Took the Waltworks out dressed in wool and enjoyed the stillness of the early morn. Something about riding with lights by yourself listening to only your breath that makes getting up at 5 am somewhat bearable. A shot of espresso doesn't hurt either.

Heading to Breck for a weekend of 'cross. The course is back to the Nordic center for a big loop of pain. I was hoping for a little snow or at least some bad weather up there but I think it should be a glorious weekend. If I can stay sober Sat eve, then I will head to Frisco to finish off the double. I am going to play hooky on the kids last soccer games.

Running Related

No 'cross racing for me this weekend as I get kid duty while Rene is off to run the Danielesque Marathon. The race is two loops at White Ranch, which turns out to be 27.6 miles of up and down.

I will be missing the races in Gunnison again this year, I think it is 3 years running that I have had a conflict. This means some training and catching up on house projects.

Good news for the Derailer Bicycle Collective as they have found a new space.

Some Randomness...

Spirits are lifting and things are back to normal. No plans for riding today as I feel whooped but will manage to get some bike work done with the help of my ever present assistant Keagan.

The winner of the Large Brewery Company competition at this years Great American Beer Festival was none other than the Pabst Brewing Company. Go figure, but with their line of beers you can't go wrong. I personally have been drinking Belgium whites in order to become one with my 'cross persona.

Since Austin, we have routed a computer feed to the hi-fi for the sole purpose of listening to KEXP and Virgin radio. Also, found sound bluegrass sites and plugged into the Dead for a day.

I am going to try and revamp the site soon, as I am growing weary of it.

Looks like 700see is available, I plan on getting a copy.

Weekend to forget

On the racing front, a definate weekend to forget! After a week home with sick kids and probably catching some strain of sickness, I shouldn't have raced. But, excercising poor judgement without the aid of alcohol is a downfall on mine. Race one, after a small mental battle with a fuzzy head, I line up in the second row. The start went great as I was in the top ten right behind friend and the winner of the race. Decent first lap, then the energy was suck from my body and I fought hard just to stay in the race. Finished a disappointing 26th!! On a brighter note, a BKB clad team mate was cheering me on! Happens to be this guy's brother. Race two, single speeded myself into utter pain and dehydration. Skipped racing Sunday because the head was fuzzier than ever, also Fallon was still sick and the stress of her slipping back into another bout of ADEM was more than I could cope with. She is back at school and seems to be recovering okay.

Some random sites to check out:
We all need to ride this way!
BBR not PBR

A couple of weeks of training before the next race, hopefully the kids will remain healthy and I can remain focused.