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.

Bitter

I have been following the recent string of comments on 'cross racing in CO. It makes me a little perplexed that so many racers are complaining about the way the courses are set up. We all race for different reasons, I race to be challenged and every course should provide an adequate degree of difficulty. That may mean some tight sections with twisiting corners, sand/gravel pits or long road sections. If I knew every course was going to be laid out exactly the same, I would opt not to race every weekend. That said, when living in Austin there was one 'cross race for the season and we were just happy racing our bikes. I become tired of the cycling community in CO some times because they feel that the promoters should make each race perfect for them, I have news the world is not a perfect place. Enough.

One kid is still sick and the lack of bike time has made me edgy!

'Cross pictures and impending doom

Found some pictures of me racing down in Colorado Springs here, here, and here. Professional pictures are on this site. Found this cool 'Cross site from a guy in Boulder.

Part of my job is to take care of small childern when they are unable to attend school due to illness, so today instead for riding I am home tending to Fallon who caught her brother intestinal virus. Lots of vitamins, water, EmergenC, and coffee to help me stave off this weight loss opportunity.

If I don't get sick, it looks like a double dose of 'Cross - Boulder on Saturday and Littleton on Sunday.

Season Opener

The 'Cross season started!
Drove to the Springs yesterday to partake in the first race of the season, it was well worth the drive down. The morning start brisk with the course still a tad muddy from the previous nights rain. Pre-rode the course to determine which bike, IRD or Waltworks, would be called up for the first race. Ran the IRD for the first race because it has gears and I knew I could ride the muddy section on it. Race one started great as I was with the lead group to the first set of barriers, then completely lost contact as the body went into shut down mode. Recovered and found myself painfully chasing down riders. Ended up with a 12th place finish not that far off the lead. I was hoping to capture a top ten finish but overall happy. Race two, the Waltworks got the call! I geared it with a 32x15, which was the perfect all around gear. I suffered like a dog and ended up finishing 17th. It is great to be back in race mode!

No race today as Rene is running the Backroads Marathon. I plan on taking the kids to the race in Morrison.

I am sorry to hear that the EnduroSnob Epic has been cancelled, it looks like the focus will be changed to hard efforts in order to finally get my lazy butt moved up a class in 'cross.

Beer, bikes, and bands!

So, I have just posted some quote and pictures since returning from what I still consider home. Time for a short recap of the madness. We tried to deal with the experience from the saddle of a bike as much as possible. The fest was great but a crush of people tended to overwhelm and in my opinion take away from the music. My favorite bands were Nickel Creek and The Greencards, both bluegrass bands. Missed the South Austin Jug Band! All in all a fun was had at ACL Fest.

Austin is one of those cities that I come away from inspired. I am not sure if it is the vibe or maybe just the people I hang with. The King of Brykerwood has been waging a war on McMansions that have been ruining the charm of central Austin. With a new ordinance, it looks that his efforts paid off. He says his political ambitions end there, even though Brykerwoods has been the springboard for mayor.

Also, caught up with the folks from Orrmanor. I am so happy after all these years to have had someone like him as a mentor when I started racing on the road. We were able to grad a few pints at the Bark&Quack, a few Mexican Martinis at Trudy's, and finished of slamming a beer at Barflys. I did get turned around on the way home riding aimless for 30 mins until finally passing the old house on Salado. The bike almost took control and rolled me to the gate, if it wasn't for the monolith in the backyard I would have done it. Rene was able to run the next am with D's wife as he tended to the kids (I left his house around 3am and the kids woke at 5:40am).

Summary of places I visited: Homeslice, Deep Eddy Cabaret, Mangias, Toy Joy, Wheatsville, Texadelphia, Trudys, Bark & Quack, Amys, Kerby Lane, Central Market, Barflys, plus many more!

Hope to visit again when the humidity is low and I have time to take some long bike rides to places like Elroy (not really)!

Cross season starts on Saturday. Let the pain begin......

ACL Fest

Some bicycle related photos from the madness Austin calls Austin City Limits Fest!

"Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."
Ann Richards

The leaves are changing

It seems the more free time I have the less time I spend on the computer. The weather has been great for the past few weeks, which means heading out and enjoying it.
Some pictures from the route I took on Labor day, a nice easy 11 mile grind up to Boreas Pass. The leaves were changing with absolutely clear blue skies. My wife actually took the pictures on her run up this road the day before I rode it. It was my job to see how many miles she ran ~ 22 miles!

Making a quick trip to Austin for ACL fest (has nothing to do with an orthopedic convention). Plan on meeting up with the old gang and visiting some drinking holes (Bark&Quack, Deep Eddy, Crown&Spanker, and Trudy's). Might try to hook up with the folks at OrrManor for a ride/run. It will be a nice break before 'cross season kicks in.

Frozen Fixed Fete coming the weekend after cross!