Mid Winter

  I'm looking forward to going out to visit this guy in his world in a few months, maybe for the singlespeed gathering in February or just a routine desert trip to Fruita to thaw out and lay on a red rock and get warm. The ride home tonight will be sweet the snow has picked up it's pace all day and the commute is going to be pretty stout. Mmmmmmmmmmm stout. 

Cracks

  I like this picture, the two teammates chasing me were about to let me go, I still had a big chase and most of the race to ge it done, the photo makes me like cross more, trying to do all I can with what I have. 

Fry

  This is gone for a while, maybe I can rally in January and February to get out to to where the rocks aren't snow covered and the better thing to do is ride instead of ski. After today I wondered how many more I can get, today was just snow, not much ice, not much you can do with that. It's been a great week for commuting only missed one day in and two days out. I'll take three out of five in a snow filled week, 7 out of 10 trips is good in my book. Keeps the motivation high for the rest of cross. Look for good cross weather in Front Range this weekend, better days are here, the field is getting evened out, crossers are coming up in the bunch and the ill-prepared are fading. Get out your skates. 

Rank amateur

I think the ground got really cold last night, I felt a bit like an ice cube gliding across the tundra. I enjoy the longer commute, the body repsonds well to the intervals at that hour and the legs heat up quickly thanks to the Wah's gift of warmth. So far the front wheel has barely slid once and the idea is still appealing to do the work outside. If not I'll not do much of it inside, I'm lazy. The ice wasn't bad, I think the ground froze before the snow could hit it too hard. Winter outside and still fall in my head. What else to do but get outside, easier than trying to stomach the time inside. The ghosts didn't have time for me last night, they must have had others to haunt. I relaized as I was laying down to sleep that I was tired and that all I work towards all work-week is the comfort inside my head and for the family to eat, sleep and be warm. I like thinking that this has been the most basic thing humans have done for eons. Simple existence broken up by visits to less basic things, like bike races. Pure gravy, mmmmmmmm gravy. I don't need to race, it just completes me in a way not much else does. Right now I really like this to complete my day, but other times it means other things. I feel the cold coming in like that Frost poem from last week, Not quite Jack London To Build a Fire winter, more like the Frost poem. The bike will get me in for the rest of cross season and then it's break until new years when it all starts so maybe next year I can ride with Harlan in one of his races on the single. Life and goals complete the puzzle, still I prefer simple. Clean out your stuff and you clean out your mind. That whole Zen thing, I strive for but fall miserbly short...I am a rank amateur.

Skating

Pics of the ice skating I did to work yesterday. Amazingly I stayed up, good skills work to do intervals and jumps on without touching the ground. The path is always better this time of year, more of the same tomorrow, I think.

Coiled

I get so excited mid-week for the coming races that I feel like a coiled spring. Antsy and eager and nervous. Like the kid with ADD and the kid who eat too many Pop Rocks at lunch. The snow on the ground around here isn't softening the urge to get out there and train. Intervals on foot and then maybe rollers but I may just pack it in after the intervals outside in the snow.

ReSt.

If I take any more of a rest week than I already am I might implode. The ghosts haunt me if I do too little. Last night I wasn't tired until almost midnight, the trip across the black ice with intervals wasn't enough yesterday morning. Too much bouncing around my head to get around the idea of proper rest this week, I prefer an empty mind, zen-like rest. I may not be too smart, but there are always thoughts running through my sleep, or what should be my sleep.

First try

I think I got this link right, check it out. My amateur video editing skills will get better when I get more material, first tries usually suck, this one does.

Anyone?

Pics later, it was a great little storm last night, made the not-yet-frozen ground into be black ice or snow, I was thrilled to get to do skills and intervals over ice. The legs were happy to have the pace back in them, lungs less happy but it's all what it takes to get faster as the others are slowing. They are slowing too, I can see it in the bunch, I feel good and feel like I'm getting better. I think I got it right this summer, not too much, and I guess not too little. Heavy branches stretching to reach the ground while I glide across in my own little frozen world. The pics will tell the story better than my words can. Nearly no front brake the whole way, too slick to grab any of it for a drifting front end certainly means touching the ground. A few spots i could take the dirt path and get into the fun stuff where the bike really flew. Tarmac isn't the best way to get there on the shoulders of winter. The ground isn't sure if it wants to be winter yet and the bike isn't sure if it always wants to be upright.

I'm wrong

I guess rolling thru a redlight is grounds for a dumptruck driver to try and hit a guy on a bike. I thought I had the green and I started crossing and the asshole in the dumptruck guns it to get close to me. What a dick - F him I hope he gets cancer. That happened on the way to the race on Saturday morning. Today for the commute my right thumb got so cold I burst a blood vessel in the tip. Ouch. Karma? I thought the guy in the truck was more wrong than me. Not that there are degrees of wrongness, I believe wrong is wrong, certainly there are more grave injustices than others but let's not open that Pandora's box right now.