the days with beckham are getting better and better, he was a blast yesterday, we went to the post office, ran some other errands hung out at the coffee shops and generally enjoyed the day. he didn't cry once, we met shaubie for lunch and she gave the boy a boobie, we apent the afternoon listening tp music and then at the coffee shop for more relaxing. he sat in the car while we were driving errands and he was talked to me the whole time if he wasn't dozed off. maybe because i'm not training right now i have been thinking a lot about skateboarding, the way the board feels when you carve high on the bowl, or nail a landing. i still watch skate videos and hopefully in a few years i can skate with beckham at the local parks. i was thinking about skating pools in ocmd early in the summer before they opened up the resorts to the memorial day crowds. i would get down there right as school was out and have two weeks before the invasion. just wandering from early morning surf sessions to the unguarded pools and back for the evening glass-off. what a life! so far from here, now. i regularly skated a loading dock a few blocks from my house, late one night i ollied perfectly into midair, the board floating just below my feet, i eyed the landing and as i came down my front foot wasn't over the board anymore, i landed and slap! the board went right into my knee on the inside of my left leg, never has cycling brought sharper pain than this. i laid on the ground for a while before i got up the energy to try and skate home, it took a while. other times i would get away with minimal damage, those were the good days, carving a ten foot pool with a light 8 feet up the wall, but the light wasn't there so it was just a hole in the wall. carving frontside and backside over that hole and looking down at it is a feeling i'll never forget. enjoy non-motorized wheels today!

last night was tough, i'm dealing with the fact that cross is over for me and that i need to take a break, but i heard that the weather down in denver/boulder was crappy and all i wanted to do was prep the bikes for a muddy day. sit down, breathe, remember that the new season isn't far off. the fact remains on my ride home last night i felt as though my lungs were cooked from the inside out, just fried. i could barely ride at a good pace up through town, just blown. maybe in the sickness that's been going through me and everybody else in colorado there is a bit of bronchitis. nothing else i've had feels like that. another week then it's back to the road machine. long slow miles, no real efforts until after the first of the year. little b was pissed at 4 am when he woke, not really understanding why he couldn't get a booby. the feedings are too frequent says the doctor, so that means less sleep for the rest of us. we all were pretty beat when it came time really wake up and go to work. number one just sat on the couch and watched as b got his lenses and then fell into him, hugging his head, jackson looked very tired. but of course he let b hug him and talk to him. this morning i rode a new bit of singletrack, it makes the ride in a bit more interesting, nothing great just a steep little drop on a trail down to a lower road. it was cool in secret pre-dawn light, my little cateye doing just enough to point out the drops and bigger rocks. i hope i can run into town and get a bagel and some good coffee, i didn't get to eat breakfast, i got back to sleep about 5.15 and chose rest over food.

last night was tough, i'm dealing with the facts that cross is over for me and that i need to take a break, but i heard that the weather down in denver/boulder was crappy and all i wanted to do was prep the bikes for a muddy day. sit down, breathe, remember that the new season isn't far off. the fact remains on my ride home last night i felt as though my lungs were cooked from the inside out, just fried. i could barely ride at a good pace up through town, just blown. maybe in the sickness that's been going through me and everybody else in colorado there is a bit of bronchitis. nothing else i've had feels like that. another week then it's back to the road machine. long slow miles, no real efforts until after the first of the year. little b was pissed at 4 am when he woke, not really understanding why he couldn't get a booby. the feedings are too frequent says the doctor, so that means less sleep for the rest of us. we all were pretty beat when it came time really wake up and go to work. number one just sat on the couch and watched as b got his lenses and then fell into him, hugging his head, jackson was having no fun, he looked very tired. but of course he let b hug him and talk to him. this morning i rode a new bit of singletrack, it makes the ride in a bit more interesting, nothing great just a steep little drop on a trail down to a lower road. it was cool in secret pre-dawn light, my little cateye doing just enough to point out the drops and bigger rocks. i didn't get to eat breakfast, i slept until 6 and had to leave straight away after contacts.

last night was tough, i'm dealing with the facts that cross is over for me and that i need to take a break, but i heard that the weather down in denver/boulder was crappy and all i wanted to do was prep the bikes for a muddy day. sit down, breathe, remember that the new season isn't far off. the fact remains on my ride home last night i felt as though my lungs were cooked from the inside out, just fried. i could barely ride at a good pace up through town, just blown. maybe in the sickness that's been going through me and everybody else in colorado there is a bit of bronchitis. nothing else i've had feels like that. another week then it's back to the road machine. long slow miles, no real efforts until after the first of the year. little b was pissed at 4 am when he woke, not really understanding why he couldn't get a booby. the feedings are too frequent says the doctor, so that means less sleep for the rest of us. we all were pretty beat when it came time really wake up and go to work. number one just sat on the couch and watched as b got his lenses and then fell into him, hugging his head, jackson was having no fun, he looked very tired. but of course he let b hug him and talk to him. this morning i rode a new bit of singletrack, it makes the ride in a bit more interesting, nothing great just a steep little drop on a trail down to a lower road. it was cool in secret pre-dawn light, my little cateye doing just enough to point out the drops and bigger rocks. i didn't get to eat breakfast, i slept until 6 and had to leave straight away after contacts.

after two days of driving (i'm trying to sell the car, the lot at work has high volume) i decided that i'd had enough, i got on the bike at 5.15 and rolled out, i felt great! i hate to drive. the bike felt good, my pack sat well on my shoulders and the roads and path weren't that icy! no wildlife today, just a few weird sounds from the woods. i was reading an article on former belgian national cross coach eric de vlaeminck, who has no kind words for the current national coach rudy de bie in the gazette von antwerpen: ‘he came from the mountain bike scene, the enemy of the cyclocrossers! it upsets me that he still combines the two?' i know belgians have a special heart for cross but why would he say that of a sport that can offer so much to cycling and bring people in from other avenues. does he dislike bmx? i know road is a religion and cross a sort of schism from road but i think a little bit of understanding is due on the part of mr. de vlaeminck. great dinner last night! merlin hooked us up big-time, we had an amazing meal, good food and good company, i hope i didn't offend tim's new girlfriend too much, shaubie and i were being our typical selves. we had room to go plenty lower! without travis there we were able to keep it a bit above the belt, whenever you throw him in the salad can have a lot more bite! hopefully soon we can have another night of true humor, the whole crew with the gloves off! not a whole lot of sleep last night, b woke at about 10, 12 and then 2, pretty rough go. he wasn't in the mood to allow us to get rest, it didn't help that we were out late (9.30) i love being old! then i made shaubie get up at 5 to put in the lenses before i left for work. ride your damn bike

first day

first day excitement on the hill, i rode pretty well, the 9 inches of fresh snow didn't hurt. a few glory turns where the snow wasn't touched, little bit of float and the unweighted board moving through uncut snow. the day was good, cold, windy and soft snow normally don't go together but not in this case. the chair ride was entertaining, todd and travis recounting past conquests (not snow related) always makes for good time passing. the run was enjoyable solitude, short radius turns on the side where the good snow could be found and a song playing in my head, most of the day it was some outkast, no real music just one of the thousand tvs in my head playing sound instead of video. my gear is pretty worked but i was warm and happy in my jacket and pants. maybe i'll acquire some new stuff soon. little b is on a roll, three really good days in a row, just a happy laughing kid all day. we survived our days together far better than previous weeks and i had a bit of sadness going to work thinking i won't see him until 4.30 this afternoon. the boy amazes me, he relaxed his eyes on cue to allow the lenses in today and then he just was quiet while i put them in. if shaubie could get over her strep life in the house would be ideal, until then that is our one hurdle, keeping everyone healthy! ride well

i tried to play football last night with a few brits, it's not that i didn't play, it's that i didn't play well. i was also oddly winded at strange times, i'm an athlete, this stuff shouldn't hurt me, it's indoor soccer for god sakes! i can run around a gym and be fine. the mexican guys we played weren't very good, they were just better than us. for whatever reason the brits wouldn't really pass me the ball, i could pass it to them after a turnover but i couldn't really get it back. i think i maybe had one shot the whole game and that was in the first minute or so of play. i tried to control the ball and allow the play to happen but i couldn't find my rhythm. at least i had a great ride to work today, the trails had two more inches and the tracks were just mine. i did see evidence of a bear dragging a bunch of garbage out of the hood into the trails to snack. it looked like he got a good meal the way rubbish was spread all over. i'm waiting to see first snowshoe hare tracks of the season, they make me happy. i love to watch those guys run, perfect grace and speed over the snow. i wish i could move that well over snow. little b is weathering his first winter pretty well, he doesn't seem to like the room at his daycare center, whenever he's there he cries and if they walk with him towards the door he stops crying, they said that he's a bit young for that kind of association, but look who's raising him. i don't blame him i'd rather be home too. he likes to go for walks as long as he stays warm, the contrasts with the snow and the trees really fascinate him. i love to watch his eyes follow contrasting trees and logs on the ground. he loves to talk, it seems if he's awake he's saying something, the best is when he wakes up in the morning he just sits in his crib and talks to the room. as long as you let him sit there he doesn't cry he just talks.

the ride home last night was everything i wanted it to be, great trails and the snow just made everything a bit quieter than mid-summer. i was able to roll most sections and the hike-a-bike was just a fun walk. the woods were super quiet, no animal tracks just a single mtb spoiling the new snow. i only came off once when i tried to ride a little balance beam see-saw thing and somebody had shifted the boards so they weren't even, a little tumble but not really a ground fall. then rolling through a nice slightly downhill wooded meadow area i see an orange flash off to my right, as i stopped to look over it's a hunter with a big gun! i was a little freaked out and before i really even thought about it i yelled " hey, biker over here!" the guy just kind of looked over and looked away, clearly not caring about who else was in the woods with him that wasn't good eatin'. i watched him walk up the hill away from me i was happy to have my little cateye on flash mode to make sure i didn't come out the way greg lemond did on his fateful hunting trip. after that it was a more hurried pace to get the hell away from elmer fudd. the long climb up and out of the valley on gold run was pretty dark, i kept a good pace and turned on the light full throttle and then up and over and ripped the descent into the hood, not even a dab. today on the way in we had about 3 inches on unplowed roads, it was wonderful! perfect opening day for the ski area, can you beat 3-5 inches on the first day of the season? cruising on the roads and paths was the coolest thing, super quiet, i don't understand my fascination with quiet, i guess in a world that is so loud it's a welcome change to have it not be. i miss having music but in the woods i just want to listen to what's going on around me. as i was rolling over the path i saw a medium sized dog running toward me, and then he turned and his profile suddenly showed me he was a fox not a dog! a big, well fed and ready for bed fox. he looked at me and ran the opposite the way, the way i was headed, over the path bridge and up into the brush, i apologized for pissing him off and went on my way. i love the world at 5.30 am! fresh snow on the unplowed/untrodden roads/trails, and animals everywhere if you get lucky enough to look in the right places.

glare ice on the road this am on the way in, i made it without too much trouble, i didn't come off which was a victory. it's shaubie's birthday so we didn't get her up to the boys lenses at 5, she slept in, life is hard enough, your birthday should be a special day with special treats, like sleeping extra if you want to. i left her card on the counter and gave her the present when i escaped to go home at 7 to do the lenses, beckham was great, he let me put them in without much hassle, having a 6 month old who wears contacts is definitely a different hurdle to jump. shaubie loved the jacket i got her, it's a beautiful isis softshell...... mmmm softshell crab..... really warm and super-high-tech. i also found her a cool little toque, i hope it's a good day. i'm still going back and forth on the slide for the winter, tele or snowboard? i need new snowboard boots, but that's nothing just a few phone calls to see who can give the hook, and i only need boots, not a board and binders. the old boots never quite fit right, kind of a dissapointment, usually northwaves are great but i think i gave myself a bad fit on them. tele skiing even if i got help would be a big outlay, a lot more than a pair of snowboard boots. the idea of learning to tele is pretty appealing, but the money out is not. i almost have my pack all set up for winter rides. i just need to get a few more emergency things and it'll be all set. pump not co2, an extra tire lever in case one snaps on a snowy trail, and a few patches, it sure beats walking home.

the flu is pretty much gone, just the lingering aches that come with a 9 hour ab workout. i didn't ride today, instead it was a great afternoon walk on the trails with the boys, number 1 was thrilled to be out in the snow, and little b was happy for a while then i think he got cold. the trail was perfect, not very slick even for a guy with a baby on his chest. i was looking for animal tracks but it had snowed all day and the little guys were probably sleeping off the mornings work. not that i know exactly what tracks are what but it is pretty cool to try and figure out what creature is running around the woods. the peaks are all covered and the snow is very light because it's been so cold, it's wonderful! i'm debating what kind of slide i want to use this year, the tele skis would be a fun challenge but the snowboard is such an old friend, i can't abandon it. splitting time would be ok if i didn't have to buy gear, the board is here and the skis are not. some good music and a morning of fresh powder or even corduroy and i'm a happy piglet! just a few hours is all it takes then you go into town for lunch and home by 1 with a pm walk with the boys on the trails or even a little ski tour and the day is perfect.