Cross has begun

The first foray into running and riding the bike was great fun this weekend. The CX race in Sun Prairie was made into a U.S. Grand Prix national event. Two days of tight twisty sprints through Angel Park, I was planning on only racing on Sat but after racing like a wuss I decided to go back for more on Sun. On Sat I started in 58 and finished 56 out of 108 riders. I t was muddy and slick and I was not very aggressive, so I figured I better try again the next day. On the other end of the spectrum Spencer started dead last in the race and finished fourth, just off the podium, and Bryan finished 17th. Sunday started out much drier and with a few changes to the course that I really liked. Since I did not preregister I started in the last row of 100 or so riders, I made it through half the pack in the first three corners and settled in to recover a bit, after that I only was able to pick off a couple of riders per lap and could not make a dent in the group just ahead of me. So I finished 56th again even though I rode much harder and attacked as much as I could. Spencer got on the podium with a third place finish and Bryan finished 33rd. All in all it was a good weekend for me, I wasn't last and I did not get pulled from my first national event. It was fun to see old friends and to watch the international field of pros tearing it up around the course. Jerry Long flew in from Idaho for the weekend and rode well, Ryan and Lisa were not able to race Sat due to illness but had a strong showing Sun.
On another note there is a possibility of me and Chasity getting in to the Iceman in Kalkaska MI for the Midwest Championships, cross your fingers we wont know for a couple of weeks.

Fall is here....

in more ways than one, falling leaves in the yard, falling in the standings, falling further behind in the training. Treadfest was great, just as fun and fast as I remembered. I did not see the chipmunk that got squashed but I still can hear the screams of pain as people were cramping up on such a hot day. I chose to not go out hard and just enjoy the trails, I have cramped up and blown up at the last couple of races and did not want to do it again this weekend. The plan worked even after spending Saturday night at a wedding reception (congrats Dani and Roger). Still looking forward to Sun Prairie in two weeks, maybe that will get me back in the mood to go fast, or at least try to go fast.

Kettles

On Sunday we spent a wonderful day at the Kettles. Monica rode 9 miles of the blue loop and only got off her bike a few times, she did some awesome riding. At the connector trail Monica and I headed back to the parking lot while the rest of the group rode on. Monica waited for me in the parking lot while I did the red, white, orange, and purple loops. I would ride for twenty minutes and stop back and check on her over and over. Chasity came back and Bryan and I headed out for one last 7 mile loop. Almost four hours and over 35 miles of single track.
Tonight I decided to get the cross bike tuned up for Sept 26th. To my dismay the chain was toast, so I called Wildside to see if they had any Campy ten speed chains. Brian said "No" apparently there has been a shortage of Campy chains in the U.S. this year. He informed me that a SRAM chain should work and luckily I had a spare in the basement. It worked OK and I headed of to Devils Lake. Need a few adjustments but I am looking forward to Sun Prairie. See yall at Treadfest.

Looks and legs can be deciving.

I cracked, like an egg. I felt so good and was riding so well, never pulled, never attacked, just sat in at the front. First lap 45 min, this is awesome, do not do any work. Second lap 50 min, wow I am going to crack the top 40 overall maybe 5th in age group, do not do any work. Third lap man this is getting hard, why can't I turn my peddles, and did 20 people just pass me? Oh man I just need to finish, I will check my computer and see how much farther. 6 MILES!!. Okay pull over take a breather and some water, you can finish, but do not do any work if possible. Was that Russel Jobs who just smacked me on my ass, this is bad. There's the finish and two more lost spots. I am done. Smoked Meat.

All the people in the picture eventually caught me and passed me. Looks can be deceiving.