2 posts in 24 hours. Coincidence? I think not

Well I woke up to a fresh layer of snow today,
So far I have blown off hitting the rollers and killed a good portion of the morning drinking an entire french press, and reading the paper.
Well I have killed all of five minutes trying to avoid the rollers, but here goes nothing. Maybe I will even have three updates in 24 hours...

P.S. I threw a bunch of new links up on my page, check them out.

Taking a little break

Sorry for the hiatus on the updates, but I have been busy. With the combination of the closing the temporary store at Park Meadows mall for St. Nicks, I put in a ridiculous amount of hours at work, all while trying to put base in there as well. After what seemed like a never ending week at work, I decided to take some time off before school starts this next wednesday. Some of my best friends from Socorro, New Mexico came up for a few days and spent some time in Colorado. We spent one day downtown and went to the Denver Art Museum, which I have never been too. One of my good friends Neil is an aspiring architect and had heard about the remodeling of the Denver Art Museum and really wanted to see the building and the artwork. Got to check out some really interesting pieces from just about every race and culture out there, highly recommend checking it out. We spent the next day skiing/snowboarding at Keystone, where we had an awesome day for sure. Back in the day I spent almost every moment of my free time up in the mountains snowboarding. Since I went to college and picked up cycling, snowboarding took a back seat and I hadn't done it more than a couple times since then. We had an awesome day on the hill and it was great to spend it with all of my good friends. The last day of their trip we made our way up to Ft. Collins to my younger brother, Andrew's house to go hang out and see the town. It was really good to see them and I hope that I can see them again soon.
After Ft. Collins I went to Greeley to see some friends and see the old stomping grounds. I caught up with Mark down at the International Bike's new location in Greeley. I then went to the Rio with Scott, and Dana. There is where I finally had my first Marg that everybody is always talking about. I'm pretty sure that it lived up to all the hype that everybody gives them. Afterwards, we went to a friend of mine in Greeley, and we had fun there until the late hours of the night. The next day Scott and I braved the cold weather and went and visited some people in town for a little while as well. All in all it was a great few days off, I saw some old friends, and made a lot of great new ones, all while getting some solid chamois time in as well. Thanks for reading, and check out my new songs as well they are awesome!

P.S. The picture on the bottom is of my friends, my brother and I. I never get any comments anymore, I hope it changes.

Getting Back to It

     Well I'm starting up the base today for road season, which means the party is over.  I havn't ridden my bike in about 3 weeks which is never good.  I'm mostly drinking beer, and eating...alot.  I started my first day of base off right when I cooked  a calzone this afternoon, hello delicious.  Brought me back to the days in Greeley when our training food was calzones and pizza.  Anyway, time to jump back on the horse and get to it again.  Other than base starting up, life is as usual.  With the holidays over St. Nicks won't be taking up as much of my time, which is always good.  With Christmas money and some savings, I managed to order a SRAM Force Group online.  I can't wait for it to get here and put it all together.  Well I'm off to hit those rollers on the cross bike, thanks for reading and check out whats on the pod as well.

Not ending on a good note

Well my cross season ended this past sunday while I laid in my bed.  It had been a goal the whole season to have a top 10 at the state championship.  It really sucked having to be at home while everyone else raced in the freezing cold, I wanted to be there so bad, but it couldn't happen.  There is good news from the weekend though.  My little brother Eric, took 3rd at states and won the overall for BCR (Best Cyclocross Rider) in ages 15-16.  I couldn't be more proud of the kid.  He worked really hard and did well in races when they counted.  Not to bad for somebody's first cross season!  

        It sucks that I had to end my season like I did, but it just makes me want to work harder in preparation for next year.  I'll try to make it up on the road this year.  That reminds me, I will be riding for Rocky Mounts this year.  Thanks for reading

Vegas, Snow, Sickness...

Well my small vacation to Vegas went off without a hitch. I think 2 nights is pretty much enough for sure. Our first night ended up being the most eventful my Uncle and Aunt met me and my buddies and we got to go a members only bar on the top of the Mandalay Bay. Lets just say we had fun.
Aside from that I came back feeling ready to go back to work and prepare for cyclocross state championships tomorrow. Only problem is I woke up this morning with a fever, cough, and overall not feeling so well. Right now our current weather in Littleton is 18 degrees and dumping snow. Tomorrow is probably gonna be a mudfest, and hopefully I will be able to race. I'm gonna rest up tonight, hopefully I feel better by morning.
P.S. I cut all my hair off on Thursday, and some new songs for you to listen to as well.

Wearing down

Well all the racing is starting to wear on me and its starting to show a little. Which is why I havn't been updating, not a ton to write about. I had races in Co Springs, and one in Highlands Ranch as well. Those didn't go great, so I won't even talk about it. This weekend of Thanksgiving I did a race nice and close to home by Dakota Ridge High School. I took it pretty easy as far as riding during that week, and I definitely feel like that was just what I needed. Out of the gate I was sitting top 3 and feeling really good. We had been snowed on here in town and it had just started to melt. Needless to say it was pretty muddy out. I drifted out of that group and into some chase groups as well. The wind was blowing really hard going into the finish line. I was in my smallest gear the whole time up that stretch. Still managed to lose a lot of time and places. By the time I rolled into the finish I was somewhere in the top 15 I think. Overall not so bad, I felt super strong on parts of the course. On other parts I felt like crap, but thats all part of the game. Well thanks for reading, Ill try to get some pics up from my upcoming vacation to Vegas. I leave on Sunday, boy do I need a vacation.
PS. New songs for your listening pleasure too.

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.