begin

i think my break is over, i'll start today, i didn't really sleep that well last night, i'm over the cold that b and i were sharing. i guess i'm rested, i'll get on the bike as soon as possible, maybe ride the single over the tundra a bit to get in some slow work. hit the nordic center tomorrow morning for an easy ski. do i remember how to ski? javasport, any ideas or input?

friday

another day at home with b, his cold is now our cold, not too bad, he's feeling better i'm feeling a bit worse, no big deal. happened upon a very well run webpage, check it out: race clean
one of those get your head out of the sand pages that makes you read more and more and see what is going on out there, if you don't care about the problem, you should, they seem to offer a fair bit of speculation on who is dirty and who is not. take it at face value, i do agree with the rant on amgen however, why they would sponsor a cycling race i have no idea, their product is already so abused in the sport, why push it in the face of the clean riders? poor taste for sure. i look at my spam box every few days and marvel at the number of offers i get for hgh, endurance athlete's viagra? read up on this product and it gets scary, cancer causing, and degenerative to the tissue it is supposed to help in the long run. i hope the young riders out there are getting the message, stay clean.

bathroom humor

i know this isn't the classiest bit but i guess if your comedic tastes were that way you certainly wouldn't read my blog.

denver post

cool article in the denver post with a bit of an interview with me from saturday's race. (click on the title that reads denver post)

they aren't full ocd, yet. but sometimes i get to the point where it feels like i'm getting close. after i showered last night i'd run around the house cleaning a bit and put some stuff in the basement, i'd worked up a very light sweat. my legs were the tiniest bit sticky. i couldn't sleep, whenever they were together it would keep me from getting a chance to fall asleep. i had to get up and find some pjs to cover them. i really like to wash my hands and i never put them anywhere near my mouth, the concept of the germs that are everywhere gives me shivers but i'm not going thru bars of soap and rolls of towels, yet. i feel a balance sometimes, i'm getting on with my day while observing certain rules i set up to keep it all in order. i like that. i heard it was minus 11 today, i put my shoes near the boiler last night before bed, that kept my feet warm the first 20 minutes of the trip. i was able to get across without too much hassle, the cross bike still feels great, i don't want to hang it up, but the single will have the mitts on there after today and the idea of warm hands is pretty appealing, the lobster paws did just a touch beyond nothing in the chill today. i've been drooling over the new craft catalog, seeing what bits i can justify to myself to keep the frost out this winter. i need some new stuff anyway, maybe the guy who gave me the pro deal a few years ago is still there and will let me outfit myself in full nordic gear for the winter? i hate being cold but really enjoy being out in the cold. no choice up here, i'd really be a shut-in if i couldn't get outside in the cold.

states pics

check out joe's site to see lots of pics from the races, it's the link in the post title. check out joe's site to see lots of pics from the races, it's the link in the post title.

offseason

i just polished off a whole container of grands cinnamon rolls, 8 servings at 150 calories per serving, mmmmmm 1200 calories for breakfast. i love the off season. starting it off right, maybe hot wings later on today.

states

now it's over unless i hit the lottery and go to masters worlds in january in mol, belgium. pretty hectic morning to get down there in time, work till 8, load up and get out in the snow to drive to a cross race too far away to really figure out when we'd arrive. 8 inches on the overnight made the driving more like snow mobiling in a truck. darren drove so i didn't have to worry about that. got there in time to ride a few laps on the b bike in the mud and frozen tundra. the snow they got down there had sort-of melted into a sloppy on top but frozen underneath that made high speeds less than ideal. i started like an idiot, karl and i dropped the field on the first two minutes of the race and we had twenty seconds by the half lap mark, he had already taken advantage of my start pace and attacked me to get a gap, that was about it for the rest of the field. karl and i off alone except i couldn't close him down, his lead grew to about 30 seconds with me riding trying to close it down and not make a mess of the whole thing (like i already thought i had.) starting that hard wasn't necessary, it was going to shake out anyway the way it did, bummer i was dumb. a fast handling course was going to be between me and karl anyway. i had trouble on this downhill flowing chicane, the frozen ground covered with a layer of mud was really slick and i just never found a good line thru it. the front wheel (which i had way too much air in, 50 lbs) slid alot on the turny bits, another mistake i made that cost me. i should have ridden a lap on the race bike to be sure i had the best pressure for the course. the b bike had different tire pressure, dumb. the way they have the pits these days is bad for changing bikes, on road stretches and fast sections that stopping to switch is just too slow. karl was taking advantage of good tire choice and good and good skills to hold his gap. i just maintained the pace i could and tried my hardest to keep karl in sight. i stopped getting splits and was wondering how i screwed up that bad when all of the sudden the gap was 15 seconds nearing the end of the penultimate lap, i pushed hard to get up to him on the road at the bell, sat on for the road stuff, rode thru the first set of barriers and the second road stretch on his wheel, going in to the sand pit barrier section i attacked, remounted and hammered the next 30 seconds as hard as i could to see how well it worked. i heard i had 15 seconds before bunnyhopping the ditch (i'll get pictures soon) karl crashed on the bunnyhop and i had a minute as i crossed the line. season over, i'm state champ. it feels wierd because i only lead the last half lap or so. not the bigger time gaps i had on the other good days this year. i love cross.

boreas#2

i didn't need to do the workout to be faster for saturday, i did it because i wanted to sleep last night. from town to the the top of boreas on the cross bike. white zombie and keith in my head, pushing most of the way, happy to feel the skinny knobbies push thru the deep snow, another foot plus yesterday alone. the bike would bog down a bit and then pop out onto the firmer tracks, good work. descending moonstone was a bit of a challenge, the front brake cable slipped so i ran the last bit. so motivating to roll thru and get home just at dark without a fall ready for saturday.

better

amazing what a good night's sleep will do. i feel better, for whatever reason i don't like trying to peak and rest up and taper, i know states is a big deal but every race is states or nats. peaking is a foreign concept in some ways, i prefer to be good all year, not great for one day. i took it a bit easy in one race this season and that was because i had one less lung from my cold. still mananged a second because the form had finally shown up. now one race left and i'm excited to do it, and be done. no more worrying, if someone comes out of the woodwork and takes me, so be it. i've had great prep and the best results for a long time. can't argue with the form at the last four races. the negative thoughts are gone and the body felt great coming in on the cross bike across the tundra. i did flat, no idea how i manaed that one. isn't snow supposed to be easy on the bike? softer tires tracked perfectly, not even a slip.