Bad Luck

Well sorry for the hiatus on the updates, I have had a busy couple of weeks. The weekend right before Halloween we had a day off of racing due to the Velo-Swap on Saturday, and the annual Boulder Reservoir race on Sunday. I attended the Velo-Swap with my little brother and one of my buddies from the bike shop. I really wanted to score some new shoes while I was there, but couldn't really find any. My dad bought an old TIAA-CREF Javelin team frame from last year, and it had Troy Wells name plate on it too, but the price was right and I think he will be building it up soon.
Sunday was the Boulder Reservoir race in North Boulder. I had very high expectations of myself for this race, because it was one of my best all of last year. We had a field of about 80 or so and we were off. I was sitting about 5 rows back which wasn't great but I figured I could make up for it in the barriers and the run up. Out of the gun there was a crash right in front of me, and I had to come to almost a complete stop to avoid the crash. I got around it, and got on my pedals to try and catch the main group. It didn't take long to make it up to people, and I started trying to move up through the field. I hit the sand run up, and I knew that is where I could do the most damage. This same thing continued every lap, and I cruised in for about 34th. Not to bad considering how bad my start position was.
This past weekend was a UCI event, put on by the DBC events. I had worked 40+ hours early in the week, and despite Corey's advice to pre-register I never got around to it. I get to the Reservoir for the Redline cup. Cat 4's closed, at first I'm thinking, this sucks I can't race. Then the registration lady says, "Cat 3's are still open." I said, "Okay." I didn't want to miss out on racing, so what the hell. Anyway, I got staged almost in the back row, and I told myself that I was going to race my race and not let it get to me. I actually felt pretty good through the first few laps, Colin Don and I were staying together, moving up slowly. Then it happens, I pinched my rear wheel, luckily I wasn't to far from the pit. But by the time I had made it to the pit, my front had flatted as well. So I cruise into the pit, get my two pit wheels, and continue. I got passed by the leader, which means I had one to go. I finished my one lap, but not to sure where I was as far as places. Getting lapped with one to go wasn't that bad considering a double flat.
Sunday was the Boulder Cup down near Fairview High School in Boulder as well. Same venue as last years Grand Prix that came through town. Since Cat 4's were full that day as well, it was going to be another day of suffering with the 3's. I got just as bad as a starting position as the day before, and we were off, I tried to stay with a group of guys that looked strong, and successfully did, for about 3 laps. When I was going around a corner I had a guy come up on my left to try and take the same line as I was. In the process my tire rolled off of the rim, and my challenge blew up Greg Keller style. I was very close to the pit, and was able to make a quick change of my front wheel. I didn't make it back to the group I wanted too, but I did make it back up to the kid who caused me to crash. I passed him, and was trying bridge up to the next group. When he passed me he did so a little to close, and got something caught up in my front wheel. Luckily nothing broke, and when I was going through the finish I got pulled. Nothing like a little bad luck for the weekend, but at least the Elite men's races were fun to watch. Thanks for reading.
PS I got a new link check it out. Some new songs as well. I try to indent all of my paragraphs but it doesn't seem to be working.

A rough weekend on the bike

Well I have had a weekend to remember this weekend. Saturday was the race at Interlocken, which was where I had my very first cross race last year. I really wanted to do well, because last year it was pretty rough to say the least. There was a very large field this year, probably about 100 or so. I made my way up with Colin and my little bro. The course was almost exactly the same as last year, with a little change. They added a small creek crossing going into a very steep, slippery grassy hill. Lets just say the river was full of disgusting mud, that resembled the smell of dead fish. In addition to that it was just a very difficult course. I felt pretty crappy out of the gate, but still found myself moving up pretty well. I was riding the sand pit almost every lap, and everytime I did so, I ended up passing somebody each time. I felt like crap the whole time, but it was better than last year so all is good. They havn't posted results yet, so I'm not sure how I ended up finishing.
Sunday was a different story, the forecast said a high of 35 with a 90% chance of snow. That was pretty much how it was. The course was up in Evergreen at a elementary school, the course would have been very difficult in nice conditions, but it was snowing, windy, and a bitter 30 degrees. I felt like I got a pretty good warm-up, and actually wasn't feeling that cold considering the conditions. The course today also had a creek crossing that was extremely muddy and deep. During warm-ups I told my teammates that I was gonna hit it right down the middle and hope for the best. That is just what I did, and it didn't end well. As soon as I hit it, I knew I was going down, and I flew over the bars into a nice pad of mud. I got up and recovered quickly and surprisingly kept my position in the group. After that my next three laps went very well. Then all of the sudden I started getting very cold, and felt like I had lost all of my power all at once. I couldn't move up anymore, I just stayed where I was. Kinda frustrating to say the least. What I did get out of today was a good workout, and experience. At least I know that I can hold my own in a race that is in really bad conditions. Big thanks to Corey, Corey's Parents and Jami for cheering me on at the races this weekend. It always helps a bunch. Thanks for reading.

Gunnison CX

Well I finally got some time to update the blog, sorry for the hiatus. Good news from the weekend, I kept the bike upright, no mechanicals and I got a pretty sweet new skin suit as well. The course was on the Western State College Campus, with a lot of grass for a change, lots of turns and 3 barrier run up. Suited a power rider like myself for sure. I stayed with the main group for pretty much the entire race, I got gapped a little with 2 to go and rolled in for 10th place. Its the best result for me in a cross race, and I finally felt like I could put some power down and hold it in a race.

The Run Up
The Finish

I made the trek up there with my little brother,(who is sitting 2nd in BCR points for Juniors now) and the chester dog of course. He was bushed after all of the races on saturday, and so was Eric.

In the hotel
Chester which side of the bed do you want?

So after getting a solid night sleep we all woke up to much colder temperatures, rain and wind. Eric took second in his race after battling with a kid for 30 minutes in the horrible conditions, and finished for a super strong weekend.
My race started a few hours later, same course as the day before, only backwards with the barriers in a different place. Warm-ups were even worse conditions than earlier that morning, but as soon as my race started, the sun came out a little and it was much better. I didn't feel as good as the previous day, but still felt super strong. The course was very muddy from all of the rain, and extremely slick in every corner, which made for pretty slow going. I got gapped about half way through the race and got in a chase group with a kid from the bike source. We kept attacking each other in certain spots, and in the last lap I put on an attack that he couldn't follow and I rolled in for 11th place. Here are some of the pics from Sunday

So, all in all an awesome weekend of racing. I can't wait for Interlocken this weekend, it was my first one last year, and I plan on turning heads this weekend. Thanks for reading.
PS Check out the new songs.

A weekend in Frisco

Well finally I have some good news to report in this cyclocross season. I kept it upright all weekend, and didn't lose my chain once. I know its hard to believe but it did actually happen. As most everybody knows I had probably the worst crash of my career at the Boulder Research Park. I didn't get a solid week of training due to the injury. But I was able to get out a couple of times during the week, so not a total loss. Eric Moore and I made the trek up to Frisco on saturday morning, with my race time starting at 12:25. Coach Corey came up with a new strategy during the race, using my power near the end, and not run out of gas too early. It went OK during saturday's race, but nothing very spectacular happened that day.

Here is one of the shots during the race.
Here is another, I got the game face on for this one.

So anyway, I wasn't too aggressive during the race on saturday, just tried to keep my overall position and not lose any places, It seemed to work out well, and I felt pretty strong the entire race. I finished somewhere in the bottom half, which has pretty much been the story for me all year.
Sunday's race went much better, I felt strong all around, and moved up the entire race. They changed up the course from the day before and it suited me quite a bit better than the day before. A little bit more flat, with a few of the same sections from the previous days course. With a sandy run-up that some people were riding and others were running, but if you hit it right you could ride it. Another part was super technical and kinda slow, but made it very challenging. Last but not least the 2 sets of 4 barriers right past the start/finish line. I started somewhere in the middle, didn't go for the whole shot, and went to try to pick people off and move up throughout the field. I moved up every lap, picking off people as best I could, while not exerting myself a ton. With two laps to go, I decided to start opening myself up a little. With Dave Towle's help I tried to make my move for better placing. I attacked the small group of people I was with, and only one guy followed. We took turns at the front keeping the pace high for that lap. Then about half way through our last lap, he opened it up and set a pace I couldn't match. Tried to bridge up, but settled for 23rd.
I felt awesome with how I raced today, and it is my best cyclocross finish since I started last fall. I know that my fitness isn't quite there yet, but I feel better every time that I race, and have high hopes for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all who came out and cheered me on, it makes the racing that much more fun and makes me attempt to go that much faster! Thanks for reading.

P.S. My Boulder Cycle Sport clothing finally came in this week, I'm pumped to finally race in it. I put some new songs on my "Whats on the Pod" section, check them out.

In other news...

My chain didn't fall off once, even after the big crash, got that problem solved.

Boulder Research Park

Well it has been a solid day for sure, went into today's race in Boulder with a real solid week of training under my belt, and high hopes to do well. Had a fair sized field today and the course was way fun, with lots of turns, very technical, lots of fun stuff. My first lap went really well in the main group for the most part. Then when I'm making a turn onto the dirt part of the course from the asphalt and I stack it up in the dirt, pretty hard to I might add. I look down and see my left leg is mess. I almost got back on the bike and kept going but it just wasn't happening today. I found the medical tent and they patched me up as best they could. The first aid guy said I needed to go to the hospital and get stitches for the top of my leg. So I drove home to Littleton, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the ER. I don't have any pics from the accident, but I do have what I looked like when I got home from the hospital.

13 stitches later I'm good as new

It looked a lot cooler when it had all of my flesh showing, Scotty Boy can vouch for it.

The shin actually looks worse than the other cut, but its not.

Anyway its been a crappy day and I'm gonna get some sleep. I wish I could race tomorrow but I don't want to end up like this guy, who rode his bike with stitches, thanks for reading.

Foothills Cross

Well I didn't get that much out of this weekend other than 2 really hard workouts. Had a bunch of mechanicals yesterday, and was playing chase the whole race. Good news is that Eric Moore took 2nd, and my good friend from Latvia, took third! Good job both of you. Next week I will have better news I hope. Thanks for reading.

Pikes Peak Supercross

Made my way up to the springs today with Eric Moore for Pikes Peak Supercross. I had intentions of doing very well, had a solid week of training, and a decent race last week. Well today didn't go as planned, felt like crap and couldn't ever get any kind of rhythm going at all. I felt like my first lap was pretty good, had good position on the start, and through the first barrier I ran through the weeds and dodged some people. After that I had a hard time making any type of large effort to stay with anyone. I got lapped by the leader with 1 to go. Really disappointing day for sure, and I am hoping I have a better day tomorrow. Eric on the other hand did really well and had an awesome first race, 4th place!
As for the race tomorrow I'm ready to rip the legs off of my adversaries. Last year this race was my last of the year, and it was my worst too. I'm super pumped, and got high hopes for tomorrow. Thanks for checking in, I'm gonna get some sleep.

Brecktobercross

Sorry for such a late update, I have been crazy busy! Sunday was the much anticipated first cross race of the year. Good and bad all around, had some mechanical issues during the race, but overall had a lot of fun! Corey and I left Denver and made our way up to Breckenridge. Couldn't have asked for better weather, and a better place for a really fun cross course. I went into the race really excited for the first one, but not knowing how my first real race of the year would be, and where I was physically. I felt surprisingly well in the race, but my mechanicals started early and put a damper on my overall result. We determined later that my third eye chain watcher was sitting lower than in normally would in which case it wouldn't do its job correctly. This made for probably a dozen chain drops, which was also a result of how bumpy the course was. Overall it was a good first race, and with cross mechanicals are just part of the game. I bought a double chain ring set up the other night, and that should mean no more chain drops for sure. I know my fitness isn't quite where it should be yet, but I know I will feel better every race. Last year, I was getting lapped pretty quickly, I know that the only reason I was lapped on sunday was because of mechanicals, so nothing but good things ahead hopefully. I'm off to bed, training tomorrow and a long day of work. Thanks for reading,

P.S. I never thought it would happen, but Corey managed to find a rap album that I enjoy. Kanye West's Graduation. Check out my Ipod section as well, its been updated.

Autumn is here, couldn't have come sooner.

Nice crisp morning today, and had one of the better rides that I have had in awhile. Ive found my cross course that I will do my race workouts on near my old middle school not more than a few blocks from my house. I do need to build some porto-barriers to complete it, might be my saturday project.
Above are the new wheels that I finally got the other day...only problem is I can't use them! They are Dura-Ace 7800 hubs, wrapped in a black Mavic Open Pro, with wheelsmith black spokes. Turns out the Dura-Ace hubs only work with 10 speed, and 1o speed only. You can only switch out the free-hub body for one identical to it, because apparently they run an oversize axle shell which only allows that certain free-hub body. I'm trying to decide if I should send these babies back, and start from scratch? Or strip down the rear wheel and get a different hub? Sell them on Craig's List? Its a tough call and I'm not sure what to do, I would love to hear what you all think.

Above is a shot of the hub, and below is a shot of the rim.
If anyone is interested in taking these off of my hands, let me know and we can maybe work something out. Also does anybody have a similar wheelset (32 spokes) that they want to get rid of? Anywho I hope I get some feedback, thanks for reading.

P.S. I was reading Greg's site today and he found an article about the course for Sunday, looks like fun.