Veldrijden Colorado

The Future

2011-02-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

Greetings All,

Changes ahead for Veldrijden Colorado, when starting this a bunch of years ago, I had no real expectations or planned direction of where I wanted to take this experiment. All I knew is that I wanted or felt as though I needed a means of expressing my cycling life. While this blog has obviously been cyclocross centric, this space has also allowed me to lay down some digital history of my entry into the cycling world and how it's morphed into a lifelong career path.

As of late, my posts here have become more and more sporadic, not because I don't have anything to say but simply because there is a finite amount of time in a day and a don't have the time to keep this site operating up to my own standards. In a perfect world, I would carve out some space on a daily basis to organize my thoughts in words but that's not reality. So this may come as a massive disappointment to the 12 regular visitors of this blog, but fear not, I do have plan B

Moving forward you may find my contributions at a new blog : SRAM Factory Cyclocross Team
I've partnered up with a few other SRAMmies and will representing our Colorado scene. My cross compatriots, Scott McLaughlin and JP will be competing from their hometown of Chicago. I couldn't be more stoked about this change, I hope you'll bookmark the new site and as always please continue to read the fine fine work that Greg Keller is putting out at Mud and Cowbells, The boys at Frites n' Mayo Velo, Dale ( Crossin Colorado ), from not Boulder. ( links down to the right ) and Lorties site for some words and amazing images.

Thanks for a massive amount of encouragement from all, I truly hoped you've enjoyed the ramblings and I'll see you at the races.

Thanks
Shotty

Best and Worst of 2010

2011-01-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

Greetings, suffice to say if you're reading this, you've successfully navigated your way into the New Year ! So Happy New Year ! I hope all your personal and professional hopes and aspirations are met.

With no further ado, let's dig in the past season from my view:

Best New Race Venue:

Goes to the Halloween Boulder Cup at the Dicks Sporting Goods parking lot at the mall. ( or mawl, say it with a New Jersey accent )After burying myself at the previous days Colorado Cross Classic at the Reservoir, I had doubts about whether or not I really wanted to drive back North while subjecting myself to a course that had been previewed online with very poor reviews. "too much flat pavement", not technical enough" etc, etc. We all couldn't have been more wrong and thanks to Chris Grealish for proving us wrong. In my mind this course epitomized cyclocross racing, it was the perfect leveling of the playing field and held in a mall parking lot of all places...who knew ? So caps off, I had a ton of fun racing this course and that doesn't mean it was easy because it was anything but. No, that's not a smile below.

Worst New Race Venue:

Goes to the USGP in Ft Collins. I had much,much higher expectations for this venue. Initially word was that it was to be held on the grounds of New Belgium Brewery's property. It ended up in some field behind a car dealership. Not exactly showcasing a national elite level event in my mind. The course for me, didn't flow well, the shorter second day was a modest improvement but Saturday's race felt much like a death march, many long climbs that turned into slogs, barriers that were placed where you already riding barely above walking pace (remember, I'm speaking for myself here ). I simply didn't enjoy the ride. The parking lot to the North turned into a very slippery muddy disaster and I barely got out at the end of the day without nearly sideswiping numerous other cars. If the USGP is coming back I hope some more planning is put into place to really show off what US cyclocross is about.

My Best Effort This Season:

State Championships: Yes I had better placings during the season in both the 35+4 and 45+ events but in my mind the States course really didn't suit my talents and that fact had me pretty gripped at the start. I'm typically not so good at maintaining that kind of speed during a race. I kept it together tried to be smooth and efficient and had a great day on the bike and a perfect way of ending the Colorado season.

Best Techy Bits of the Season:

Tubulars: Finally made the switch after some 15 + years of racing cross and not sure now why I had waited. The performance advantage is mind boggling and I equate it to a full suspension mtn bike vs. a hardtail. The gains in traction, control, weight are absolutely astounding. I had put this off as it seemed like Tuby's were reserved for those who take racing very seriously and certainly the cost is prohibitive. I also never trusted my ability to glue. I've gotten over that after reading Stu Thorne's instructions here . After tearing off a dead, rotted Rhino, I now have full confidence in the tires ability to stay firmly attached to the rim. The only downside...the dreaded rot that kills off a tire in the prime of it's life.

Sears Craftsmen Hand Held Air Compressor: Best Tool Ever.

I stuck the small Silca brass fitting on the end so I don't have to use valve extenders to air up tires or check pressure. The digital PSI reading is accurate, you don't have to carry around an unwieldy pump. It's not super expensive and has become an extremely useful tool in a limited bag of tricks. If you're anal about tire pressures, this tool will become your best friend when conditions are changing quickly.

Failed Policy Award:Goes to the ACA and the Colorado Cross Cup change: I'm honestly not sure what the advantages of awarding some races to be points races vs. a season long tally of points accumulation. I know that between an 8th, 12th, and 15th. place finishes in the 35+4 group, those placings still had not netted me call-up position by the time we were racing in October just because those finishes were not Points Series races. My feeling was and still is that this lead to dangerous racing and prompted my change to the 45+ group primarily because a smaller field of veterans is way safer than a haphazardly placed field of Cat 4's. I look forward to changes in 2011. Why not keep a season long tally and do call-ups based on that tally, keep the CCC and make those events double points or something ?

That's a wrap but here's some random thoughts

Did La Nina give us such a dry,warm fall ? I'm not sure but I hope next season brings some variety back to the front range. This season was dangerously dry and sparked 2 fires up in Boulder. Here's to some moisture

Lack of drama. This season for me was marked by a season without sickness,mechanicals, flats or drama of any kind even after a fair amount of races ( 15 total ) I'm not complaining it was just...weird, wierd in a nice way.

The Cyclocross Family: honestly this is why I show up every weekend, in all the years that I've been racing since starting out at a local TT series in Connecticut before I had my drivers licence to mountain biking to cyclocross I've never been part of such a strong, welcoming, supportive, tight knit community as we have in Colorado. I feel super fortunate to be a part of it so THANK YOU ALL.

Thanks for reading and again, Happy New Year!

Shotty

Recovering

2010-12-19T15:15:00.001-08:00

Although it's only been a week, it seems strange to not be constantly monitoring input and output and prepping/scheming for the weekends upcoming races. The first few days after returning from Bend was spent consuming mass quantities of food (perhaps something about standing outside in the cold and wet for a few days) and sleeping absurdly hard for long hours. It felt as though the body has been at a constant state of readiness for months on end and to have it all end was a massive groundswell shift in my energy level.

While I had briefly entertained the thought of filling out the field at the last Boulder Cup in Lyons, I couldn't muster up the motivation to make the drive up to Lyons. Nationals in Bend put such an exclamation point on the end of the season that it's difficult to rally again for more. That being said, if I had a piss poor effort in Bend, for sure I would have tried to tack one on the schedule to end my season on a high note. ( I'm not ruling out the Jan 8th race here in the Springs but it looks like some Taiwan travel may interfere)

To make withdraw symptoms worse, Keller posted this beautiful video from Jamie Kripke on his site which in my mind is about 10-20 minutes too short. Stunning work.

Next post: the Shotty awards- a round up of the best and worst of this past season!

thanks for reading
shotty

Bend Day 4- Finale

2010-12-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

So many stories come out a day of racing when all is on the line for the stars and bars jersey. Thanks to the interweb many, or all of you know what happened today in detail, here's what you may have have missed:

Mo Bruno Roy, stacking it hard in the first mud pit area and carrying on despite massive chunks of mud clogged in the vents of her helmet, clearly a sign of the force of the impact. Bleeding from near her eye and a face coated with dried on caked mud, fought from the very back well into the top third of the field. Her hubby Matt was keen at looking at Mo's lap times compared to Georgia Goulds but after he brought her to the hospital for an examination and stitches.

A pretty decent representation of Santa's (male and female )an Easter Bunny, the masked, nearly naked Mexican wrestler who was assaulted by Gumby and a Yeti in the mix. This was all happening in concert with the mens pro race for a display of the serious side of cyclocross.

"Boups" showing his running prowess by passing multitudes on foot every single lap while others were all trying to ride a particularly boggy section of the course, he was making everyone else out there look silly.

Adam Craig, switching back and forth between a singlespeed and a geared bike and finally settling on a singlespeed which looked to be in a pretty tall gear, then taking cash handups on the last lap.

Volume, sorry but streaming live video doesn't do justice to hearing and feeling a dozen or so talented musicians wailing away on percussion in sync. Trust me, between the drums, bells, horns, and voices , you can't even hear yourself think. I need to come better next year because using your voice to support riders is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Everyones true opponent this entire weekend was the course, it demanded finesse, power, patience, skill, water, sun, wind, balance and a ton of luck.

Congrats to Katie Compton for her 7th National Title and to Todd Wells who put together an outstanding effort out there today. Also an impressive effort by the green machine of Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com for putting all riders in the top 5!

Below is my most coveted piece of new schwag, a UCI approved go no-go guage for 32c tires and the other side cures dehydration! ( Thanks Stu )

That is all from here, thanks for reading

Bend Day 3

2010-12-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to a nice heavy, steady mix of rain and snow, what a perfect start to a full day of masters and U-23 racing ! I offered up a hand to help out the massive Colorado contingency here this weekend, standing at the start of the 40+ for Pete Webbers and Brandon Dwight's warm up gear and then pitting for Keller. Standing in front of Pete prior to the start, I swear as long I've been involved or a witness to bicycle racing,I have never seen such an intense pre-race focus. I'm for sure glad I wasn't racing in this class to have this kind of fury unleashed on me and others in the field. All rode a textbook race with all Colorado riders filling out the podium, Pete 1st ( Congratulations!!) Brandon 2nd and Jon Cariveau 3rd. Keller unfortunately was victim to an unavoidable crash in front and ended up running a huge length of the course before turning over to his B bike and soldering on. Conditions were EPIC with very heavy cold rain occasionally turning over to wet snow, huge wet flakes saturating everything in sight. Great rides by others from the bubble: Michael Robinson, Ward Baker, and Dan Farrell.

The Colorado dominance continued on for the remainder of the day with Danny Summerhill taking the U-23 race, Jonathan Ward won the 35+, and Matt Pacocha was first across the line for the 30+. Some scenes from the venue today. The weather really couldn't have been better and just adds to the atmosphere. This posting is no replacement for the feeling of standing in a few inches of saturated wet grass, smelling and feeling the smoke from an open pit fire, adult beverage in hand, wind blowing, pissing down rain and happy as a clam watching riders fight their own battles all day long. This is Nationals and this is why anyone who shares a love of cyclocross owes it to themselves to come and be absorbed into the fold. It's like no other.

Photo from Friday's 45+ race courtesy of Dave McElwaine/Trailwatch.net, more can be found here at Cyclingnews.com

Tomorrow in my humble opinion, is going to be a barn burner. If Ryan Trebon stays upright without a mechanical, he could easily take this. Powers is obviously on form and motivated for the trifecta (NACT,USGP, and a Nationals win ) My sentimental favorite, Tim Johnson seems to be under the weather a bit but he also was at Fort Collins and stomped on everyone by a healthy margin, he can never be counted out and there is no one better in the mud in my opinion.

Thanks for reading, one last post to come

Shotty

Bend Day 2

2010-12-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not a late in the day racer, I was loitering around my hotel room going bonkers stewing in my own juices waiting for a 3:30 start time. Prior to lunch I figured I might as well suit up and spin out the legs for a bit. I headed North on a nice winding road that lead out to an Oregon State Campground ( Tumalo ) that Jen and I camped at over a decade ago. While we were living in California, we loaded up a camper truck and drove the length of the California and Oregon coast initially trying to get to Victoria, B.C. until nonstop rain had us looking at maps in Portland. We picked Bend, knowing absolutely nothing about it other than we knew it'd be drier than the coast. We ended up spending 5 days here and became very taken with the area so when CX Nats came here it wasn't a difficult decision to return for both years.

After some leftover pizza for lunch and a valid effort at taking a nap,(too amped) I finally rounded up all my gear and headed out to the track and was able to take a nice long warm up ride for at least an hour. By start time, the winds were kicking up and temps were dropping quickly.The track was completely saturated from overnight rains and other than pavement, there wasn't a firm spot on the course. We were lined up in a very gentlemanly manner and the whistle blew shortly thereafter. I was stoked to get through the first left-hander without incident when suddenly there were bikes and bodies everywhere at the first mud pit. I was able to avoid the drama but lost some places by dismounting and running around the wreck. The first 2 laps were a blur, it was super difficult moving forward because of traffic and limited lines in the murky sections. any feeling in my fingers and toes were gone. Braking and shifting became stabs at levers, not well executed movements. In the murkiest of sections I spotted ( more like heard )Boulderites Dan Farrell, Keller, and Pete Webber making sure I wasn't languishing or whiling away my time. At 3 to go , I could hear that Don Myrah ( former honchy MTB pro and ex-Olympian racer) was coming and coming fast. At 2 to go, I buried myself trying to stay ahead of Myrah so he couldn't deny me of my last lap. It was close, way close but I made it and was so stoked rolling out for my proper last lap. I was able to make some last few position gains and rolled through in 48th position (120? starters I think ).

This years course, while not a radically different layout than last year, couldn't have ridden any different, I kind of missed last years glacial qualities of the course. This years infield fly-over looked easy enough but with the power sapping grass before and after it seemed more like an annoyance. All in all, a solid race to finish off the season, no complaints at all, no (major)crashes, flats, illness, loss of motivation..all season.

Now, my bike, gear, hotel room,and rental car are completely destroyed, there is mud EVERYWHERE and it's so tempting just to cram it in a box, bag and leave it for another day but I've got my worked cut out for me tomorrow to clean up the bike,pack it up and ship it back to CO. First though, I'm putting on my pitting outfit and helping out the Boulder boys tomorrow morning in the 35+ race.

Hopefully I'll find some images to post here soon, stay tuned for more and thanks for coming by.

Shotty

Bend Day One

2010-12-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

All went super smooth today, flights were on time, if not a little early despite some weather in SFO. Picked up my car, derbied direct to the hotel, staff was kind enough to check me in early so I had a place to assemble my bike and pick out my costume for the day.

The TT course for seeding tomorrows start line position was very easy to find and I arrived with about 45 minutes to spare. 15 of those were used up by pinning on the piles of numbers required to race ( hint: use transponders ). The course must have been a bit higher elevation than town because there is still a decent coating of snow on the ground. I managed to warm up for about 20 minutes until it was time to blindly dive into the track. Holy sketch-fest, super deep icy frozen downhill ruts, monster deep puddles that you just have to trust that there is not some ginormous rock lurking beneath the surface. I felt kinda fast on the straights but was probably a bit too conservative everywhere else. I kept it upright but the long steep run-up took the wind out of sails to say the least. All this happened in less than 8 minutes ! As I write this, results have yet to be posted.

After a cool down and putting on warm dry clothes, I made out to the track and loved what I saw. The track is very muddy, but the black liquidy variety, not the gooey, clay stuff we have in CO. It looks far more rideable than last years treacherous packed ice sheets with a bit of grassy sections. They've also lengthened it considerably which will help with the field sizes. While I was there I watched Methusela(Ned Overend) win his umpteenth National Title. sweet.

I've got to go dry out my gear and find some newspaper to stuff in my shoes...More tomorrow
Shotty

Closer....

2010-12-08T17:31:00.002-08:00

A few more pics I found from States

Bags are packed, plane leaves Oh-Dark-Thirty...Stoked! and with TT on my mind, I found this jewel from the 2005 Tour

Stay tuned for Natz updates

Shotty

Colorado Finale

2010-12-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

My frenzied weekend started Friday when prepping early for Bend, I was gluing on a fresh new Dugast Rhino to handle the mixed bag of terrain and weather conditions ahead. I've never been a huge fan of gluing tubys because I've had so much limited experience that I'd gladly hand off the task to someone far more competent than myself (that's you T-town!). So after completing a the job Friday evening with a very satisfactory job of gluing and not getting any glue spooge on the sidewalls or braking surface, I threw on a quick coat of sealant and took Jen out on date night for a nice dinner. Upon returning I wanted to check the sealant and make sure it had dried uniformly and noticed that I had glued the rear tire on the tread pattern reversed. I had glued the friggin tire on backwards!!! Instantly, rapid fire thoughts are running through my head like "well, Michelin Jet's on my commuter are front and rear specific and well, the backwards Rhino almost matches the Jets, so....it's fine" . Well after a very restless night of waking up with State Championships anxiety and the tire debacle I decided that since the glue wasn't completely set up and I haven't ridden it yet, I'll try to peel it off and repair it in the morning.

I quickly rushed through Saturday morning's breakfast and went downstairs to start the process all over again, with a lot of pulling, tugging, wheezing, and sweating I was able to get the tire without any damage to the base tape. Re-glue, lay down tape, another layer or glue and put the tire on in the proper direction. Funny thing is, I won't know if the job is done completely right until I race at Nationals. I had no plans to race this tire at States because of the dry conditions forecast all weekend. The remainder of the day was fighting for parking spots at the mall as we are wrapping up ( pun intended ) our seasonal shopping extravaganza.

On Sunday, Jim and I loaded up the Element chock full of spare bikes, wheels, trainers and embrocations for what would be our last trip up North this season. Arrived in plenty of time so throw on heaps of clothes and make an attempt to warm up. It may have been dry but some humidity in the air was making the temps feel pretty brisk, hovering just above freezing when we arrived. I was able to witness a portion of my fellow ex-Mainer Matt Klick from the Frites en Mayo team sticking it to all the Cat 3 guys. He was looking buttery smooth and composed up front but looked to be the victim of some coordinated attacks from behind and finished up 3rd. for the day but a great race and ride.

64 of us lined up for the 45+ race, I rarely get a bad case of the jitters but I was super nervous about this race primarily based on the terrain. flat and FAST, I think the fastest course I've seen in some time. It was an elastic band course featuring short turny tech sections punctuated by these long, drawn out straightaways requiring megawatts of power. Whistle blows and I get a decent start, not exactly moving forward but not sliding back either. We bottleneck slightly in the first few run-ups and turns but I can see the front end of the race disappear off into the horizon on the power sections. " these guys are SO fast" . I put my head down and tried hanging with groups, moving forward when the group started to lag or bobble and hanging on for dear life when attacks started. I was consistently gaining places on the short stair run-up but would blow to the sky on the sandy runs through the volleyball court. I had a bit of a 2 to go meltdown and lost a few spots and started picking bad lines making small mistakes. On 1 to go I pulled it together with an internal memo that this was the State Championships, you're having a good race so keep it together. I rolled through in 29th place, the 2nd Cat 4 guy in our field and was absolutely thrilled (It obviously doesn't take much to get me thrilled) , but I couldn't have been happier with such a clean race. Thanks so much to all vocalizing their support from the other side of the tape (Lortie, Dave-O, Matt, Brian, and Rich from the Frites crew, Bob P, Matty O, Dan from BSV) it was seriously motivating and meant a lot when it's just too easy to ignore those dangling in the middle of no-mans land.

So there you have it. 2010 Colorado Cross Season in the books and it's been a great one, perhaps a little too dry would be the single complaint. I'll post some more wrap-up items on this past season in Colorado but now I'm looking to Bend. Typically goals for Nationals: don't get lapped, don't get pulled.

Thanks for reading

Shotty

Ramping Up

2010-12-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

I fully realize that our season pushes into January this year but there still is an elevated sense of excitement/frenzy surrounding the two main events coming up. Two days of the Colorado State Championships begins today up in Louisville. Best of luck to all who are racing today, personally I was hoping for some weather but like much of our season here, dry and chilly seems to be the order of the day. I am amped to pin on what most likely will be my last Colorado race of the season. Between the travelling to Nationals,holidays, the desire to go make turns on snow, and travel plans to Taiwan, I realistically don't see fitting many more races in my schedule. There's never enough time to fit it all in.

On the other end of the spectrum,Bend's weather looks downright wintery. Check out the video of the time trial course. Initially I thought I read that this was a 8-9 minute course, well add a heap of wet snow and cold temps and that gets bumped out to 20-25 minutes ! Finally, USA cycling has posted our individual start times for this event and it looks like I'll have a time trial to the time trial. My plane lands in Redmond at 11am Thursday, my time trial start is 1:30PM !! So quick, gather luggage, pick up the rental car, go to the hotel, assembly my bike, go to registration packet pick up, find my way out to the TT course venue, get dressed and warmed up...all in 2.5 hours? Should be interesting. I'll pretend not be be crushed if things go pear shaped and I miss my start. I had a horrible starting position last year ( 3rd or 4th row from the back in 125 something riders ) and managed 50th.

I'll post after tommorrows event, in the meantime, keep the shiny side up

Thanks for reading
Shotty

Giving Thanks

2010-11-28T16:03:00.000-08:00

After 10 solid weekends of racing, this weekend was an appropriate time as ever to hang up the spikes for the weekend. Jen and loaded up the Subaru and headed East out to Kansas where my two older sisters have put down roots with their families. My Mom and her husband came West from Missouri so we could share a nice meal and fill in the gaps between haphazard e-mails and phone calls spread out over the past 12 months.

Thanksgiving rates highest on my list of favorite holidays, there are limited opportunities for excessive consumerism and it's worth gathering among family and friends to share a meal together. Thursday morning broke clear and cold in Salina and I wanted to pull off another "tour de turkey", 56 miles span the distance between my sisters homes with Salina in the North and Newton down South, Wichita way. Not surprisingly, it's flat with a few rollers in the middle but deceivingly difficult as there are no opportunities to just coast, perhaps carve a few turns, etc. It just turning over the pedals constantly.

It was 22 degrees out when I threw a leg over the Jamis with a heap of cold weather gear on. Jen purposefully left late and met me about halfway down where I quickly pulled over for a wardrobe exchange as the day was heating up. Exactly 3 hours later, I arrived in Newton where it was a balmy 35 by the time I arrived. By then, I was ready to put some food away ! The next day, as our family tradition dictates we avoid Black Friday and someone generates a "work list" . Both live on farms ( small by Kansas standards) so inevitably there are projects to be completed. We spent most of the afternoon, hauling and burning brush and checking off a few indoor items as well.

We arrived back to the Front Range late Saturday afternoon, I had a few thoughts about running up to Westminster for Boulder series #4 but couldn't muster up the motivation to drive. As I mentioned above after 10 solid weeks of racing and driving from the Springs, by this time of the season, the interest in racing is peaking yet the desire to sit in the car for at least 2-3 hours per day or weekend is waning.

Looking forward to States, see you there
Shotty

The Grand Illusion

2010-11-21T16:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday at Alpha cross in Centennial. Jim and I arrived with time to spare and set up trainers (the new ACA warm-up rules must be a boon to the makers of trainers and rollers !) while watching a huge fog bank lie to the North and feeling the cold winds blow off it. I was digging deep into the gear bag looking for any spares of hats, gloves, arm leg warmers etc. I misjudged my attire based on the forecast. Thankfully by the time we lined up, that great big ball of fire that rotates around our flat earth warmed things up nicely; the Mad Alchemy on the legs was doing it's trick as well. I got in a good 2 laps of reconnaissance and loved the course. A lot of creativity for somewhat of a blank canvas. Super fast, 90% cropped grass with more than a few brutal grinders of climbs to make things interesting. Many of these had some longish false flats on top so even through your were past the steep part, you weren't done. There were even some soggy spots just to pull any residual leftover power from the legs.

Typically in the past, this is not the type of course I excel on. However, the lack of moisture on here on the Front Range has turned most races into ferociously fast crits on grass/sand/wood chips requiring heaps of wattage and perhaps that's what my bodies adapted to. I was feeling

really good, able to move up through the field, trying to limit losing places. I was slightly ahead of those that I'm typically mingling with on the course and I figured I am headed for a stellar day. Not making any (huge)mistakes with lines, I was going cross eyed on the last 2 laps as I could see Leonard Zinn from VeloNews and a Great Divide rider exchanging attacks behind me and making forward progress. Lee from Green Mtn Sports came by me through the Start Finish, I hung on his wheel until the run ups and make a valiant effort to pass, we were side by side on the remount and straightaway heading to an uphill, off camber left hand turn where I tried to sneak in inside and pimp him in the turn but it was not to be and ended up pushing the limits of traction on the slick grass, sliding out. I rolled through in 30th out of 46 something starters. Dang, I am so stoked on my effort but frustrated in that I like to get a mid pack finish. This 45+ group is tough and mighty humbling, but I'm enjoying it more than ever and I know it's making me a better racer. I'll take solace in the fact that I was the 2nd Cat 4 guy to finish and the first one won State Championships last year in the 35+4 group.

Thanks to all for vocalizing their support out there, especially the Frites clan. This poor group was resembling an infirmary outing with all the injuries sustained as of late. I hope you guys are on the mend. Great job to all who volunteered and put on a fine event. I hope next year for a few more food/beer vendors. By the time we finished our race, the parking lot had completely emptied and we found that most everyone had migrated down to the Chipotle down the road. It'd be nice to be able to linger at the site and pick up a brat and/or a waffle and yell at the pro field or least watch how it's really done.

The plan is to take next week off, we're traveling for Thanksgiving and I'll do my best to not load on all things tasty in order to be somewhat prepared for our state championships on the 5th. Then a quick bike and gear wash before everything gets packed up for Bend. I'm booked and looking forward to trying not to embarrass myself too badly.

Thanks for reading

Shotty

New Belgium USGP

2010-11-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

Timing couldn't have been better. Finally some decent snowfall just in time for the USGP circus to arrive on the Front Range. A super challeging course carved out what looked to be a vacant farm field with a decent amount of elevation gain and loss, slippery off camber turns, and mud...and that was just the parking lot. The actual race course was all that and more with a super fun stair climb flyover.

I decided to drive up Saturday morning, waking super early with my bride as she was prepping for her first half marathon in South Denver. The drive up was uneventful, but a low hanging light mist settling over the fields transformed our eastern plains into something resembling the Flemmish region. ( OK, I was daydreaming while driving ).I arrived plenty early for a little course recon and warm up prep. I quickly suited up and jumped on the course prior to the Cat2/3 race and found the course to be mostly treacherous but found if I had just loosened up a bit and gave the bike a little freedom to wander in the frozen deep ruts that it was do-able. Then the sun came out.

By our race time, the course had turned into a quagmire with the classic mix of clay and prairie grass that sicks to anything in sight and makes for great frontier style adobe homes. I was privy to a 4th row starting position and had one of the best starts I've had this season. A huge hole opened up before we even hit dirt and I was able to make some serious forward progress. First left corner into the mud, I see a number of guys go down on my left and now I'm well in the top third of the field. Bike is feeling good, loving the conditions, I'm getting great traction with the Rhino's and then a push super hard into a right hander only to feel the front end push..and push..and push. and finally I go down in a heap. My heart rate is pegged and I make a feeble attempt to mount the bike from the right (something I've never even tried to do in the best of conditions). I completely shank the remount, then run around the bike to the proper side and get back on with a stutter start. For whatever reason, that was it, I was completely redlined, head down, watching heaps of riders pass without any power to make chase. The course had beat me down and I muddled through in 41st position out of some 60 starters.

I spent my evening time prior to dinner cleaning junk out of my drivetrain after a thorough washing at the venue. I was having serious doubts about my decision to travel to Bend this year after turning in a performance like Saturday. Granted most of you know that I don't obsess about podium placements but I do very much care about trying to put out a decent effort on the course and I felt that I've been denied of that during the past 2 races. I just had one speed and that one was slow. Had I been racing too much ? Is there some virus lurking in my system that hasn't morphed into something larger yet ? Part of me wanted pack it in and head South just to not have to deal with a repeat of Saturday.

I spent a good long time sitting on my trainer Sunday morning patiently looking for some energy, I woke up pretty stiff and sore and wanted to take my own sweet time to stoke the engine. I didn't do any openers during the warmup, no test of the system to make sure I had a green light mostly because I figured I'd see a yellow or red light show up. Start time arrived with sunny skies and warming temps. I didn't pre-ride the course but heard about a couple of re-routes and a little less mud than yesterday. The gun went off and again, I had decent start and steered clear of trouble as again riders were hitting the deck left and right. My compadre, Matt Klick who typically sits in the top 5 in the Cat 3's was continually yelling at me on Saturday to just be smooth, stay upright, don't be a spaz. I kept these words in my head all day Sunday and it paid off in spades. I had dumped a bit more pressure out of the tires and the course was definitely faster, but Sunday was pure cross heaven. Railing turns, tons of power, feeling spry, avoiding pileups and having an absolute blast racing my bike. On a double weekend of racing, I typically benefit from Saturdays effort on Sunday and this weekend was no exception. Best I've felt in a long time and rolled through in 29th. Go figure.

For the most part, a fantastic weekend with old and new friends, can't wait until next weekend for the next opportunity test ourselves, against ourselves. Thanks for reading, thanks for a great USGP event, and thanks for everyone showing up to either yell from the tape or pin on a number in support of US cyclocross

Shotty

Parallel Universe

2010-11-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so no one had goatees but what a bizarro day at Castle Cross; which may go down as one my worst performances of the year ( I said "may"..stay tuned, there could be more !). Another 70 degree day and dry as a bone with some fierce winds from the South. In fact, here's a dad running to sign up his kids for the junior races.Anyway, I'm not sure what led to what would be a challenging day on the bike but I was barely able to maintain my position in the race, I just felt pooped and unable to respond to any kind of chase. I was sticking my lines just fine and pulling a few aggressive maneuvers here and there but mostly watching everyone ride away from me. Yet (and here's bizarre part) I've been in this 45+ group long enough to recognize where riders sit typically and yesterday was the complete reversal of that pecking order. I've seen the guys who've been handing it to me a regular basis behind me and pack fodder like myself way out in front.

Perhaps I was feeling nostalgic about last years conditions which were pure Colorado cross. A decent snowfall had graced our presence and race day was bright and sunny and quickly turned the entire course into a fast soupy mess. Yesterday was just hot. dry, dusty and fast. Ended up 30th in a starting field of 45 or so. So what now, I'm self prescribing a week off the bike because I feel as though I might have just raced myself into a hole. I'd like to go into this weekends USGP with some fresh legs, especially with (gasp!!) real weather forecasted ! Thanks to Mountain Moon Photography for the free uploads and Green Mtn Sports for putting on a fine race.

Thanks for reading,

Shotty

Plans

2010-11-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Morale Boost ! After digging into results from this past weekends crosscapades. I realized that I'm fairing better than I thought as there are very few Cat 4 guys in front of me. If fact, I'd been duking it out with a Cat 2 all day Sunday....poor guy..must have been suffering from some ailment, virus, muscle strain, flat tire, missed call-up,and a skipping chain.

As I've only allotted myself one trip to the Boulder Reservoir per year, I will be skipping Schoolyard Cross on Saturday (a real shame as last years course at the schoolyard was super fun with it's self-imposed mud pit). So, I'll see you at Green Mountains Sports race in Castle Rock on Sunday.

Also scheming to hatch a plan for Nationals again...I hear Bend calling me

Yo-Yo

2010-11-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

Spoiler Alert ! at no time in the near future will you read enthusiastically about my new fitness/training regimen that has me climbing to the top step of the podium every weekend !!

Whew ! now that we have that out of the way, if you'd like to read more about the view from the back row, then please kick back and enjoy !

This simple exchange before the start of Sundays race summed up the weekend for me. At about the 30 secs to go announcement, someone in our crusty old coots class spoke up and wished everyone good luck and a clean race in which another replied " I love you all, individually and as a group!" It was brilliant timing and definitely broke any start line jitters. As funny as that was, it was perfectly suited to describing a weekend spent immersed with my cyclocross family at large. We are already at the teetering point in our season and hopefully looking at the looming darker and wetter half from here on out.

Saturday at the Boulder Reservoir nearly didn't happen after (another) wildfire broke out on the edge of town. Thankfully the organizers were granted a last minute green light from officials and it was game on. While I've never been a huge fan of the course at the Reservoir, Pete Webber and crew put together what I would characterize as the best yet, not too much sand where I usually resemble an extra from Lawrence of Arabia stumbling across a searing expanse of desert after weeks spent astray and lost without water. The course also featured turns galore, and with the lack of moisture that we're experiencing this fall, the grass is wicked dry and becoming very slippery after pairs and pairs of skinny knobs continually run across it at 28psi. With the new warm-up rules being enforced I brought along a trainer and manged to get a so-so spin in and then checked out about two-thirds of a lap before realizing that I was out of time and made a sprint for the line so I wouldn't miss my start. Arrived in time to pitch my jacket to Jen and literally the whistle blew and off we went into a blind start that I had no preview of. I spent the next 45 minutes trying hard not to suck too bad and rolled across in a mid pack 32nd place, besting the previous weekend by one place. And as my friend Matt reminded me ( tongue in cheek) that success in cross is linear, so at this rate all I need is 32 more races before I get the big W.

Jen also decided to race the one-lap fun run and how better to do that on Halloween weekend then to bust out your Sunday best.....OK, well this isn't exactly her Sunday best and I offered a suggestion that she go as a zombie school girl, She wanted nothing of it and opted for cute. I had to give a Rico handup as our dog was going nuts as a spectator.

During Saturday race, when I wasn't trying to keep my bike upright, I was thinking about Sundays course preview that had been posted on the interweb drawing all kinds of criticism and concern ( myself included )about the inordinate amount of pavement, whether is was cruising through the mall parking lot of jumping onto concrete sidewalks and how it looked as though it didn't really feature anything technical. Saturdays requirements were taking their toll on me and I serious reservations about what I'd have left for Sunday.

Well major kudos go out to Chris Grealish and his crew because Sundays course in my mind was superb. The course was the perfect example of an equalizer, the perfect mix of power and finesse. During the entire 45 minutes I shared an amazing duel with Charles Brown who would power away from me every single lap on the long grassy straightway grinder of a climb out of the lowest section of the course. He would easily put 10 to 15 seconds on me and I would be able to bridge back up and pass on the off camber downhill turns and runups back to the start finish area. We'd roll though the start/finish area along side one another each perhaps trying not to reveal too much even though all the shut down alarm bells were going off in my head. Charles punched it past me on the last lap and I couldn't close the gap on the last climb out, In fact 2 more guys came by me on either side as soon as we hit the concrete, I'm thinking there's no way I'm losing this many places on the last lap but as the 2 came past they manged to tangle bars and crashed themselves out of contention nearly taking me with them. I finished the day in 35th..so much for the linear success theory. I magically migrated my way directly into the Frites guys during cool down and they immediately offered up an adult recovery beverage from the Czech Republic which was very refreshing and followed by a brat and waffle. Another fitting end to a perfect weekend.

As far as passing judgement on video previews, I've learned my lesson, although perhaps not because I did the same thing for Bend Nationals last year, sitting at my computer and wondering why at had spent so much money and planned to go ride through sage weeds in the back of some some office park. I actually wished we take an alpine ski racing approach to these weekends. Go in "blind" in come prepared. I'd vote for text descriptions only.

See you next weekend, and as always thanks for reading

Moving on....over

2010-10-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

After the International Tour De Fromage last week and a solid 8 days off the bike, I had zero expectations for Saturday other than have some fun turning some laps. Friday was filled with some heavy thunderstorms and hail which had me frantically switching tires and putting fresh spikes in the shoes and as expected, these activities jinxed any chance of a muddy track. The course had dried out super quick but received just enough rain to make it ridiculously tacky and FAST !

Because travel had me missing key points races, there has been little to no opportunity to pick up any decent start spots in the 35+4 group. Because any race in the vicinity of Boulder draws such huge numbers in this "catch all" field, I've been stressing way to much about lacking the freedom to race my own race. It really had started to become un-fun routinely getting balled up in traffic. Therefore, I am implementing PLAN B: finish the season in the 45+ group for the following reasons.
1) when I'm driving at least an hour and half every weekend from the Springs, it sure is nice to wake at a reasonable hour to race
2) smaller field sizes =way less stressful starts
3) it's super motivating when my elders are handing it to me with ease

So, Saturday, with no hope of a call up, I find a nice open spot at the back which is only about 4 rows back. Whistle blows are we're tearing up the hill, there is no screwing around with these guys, they are here to tear your legs off, this isn't a social race. The pace is freakishly fast and I'm barely hanging on at about 8 -10 spots from the back. Thankfully I find my rhythm a bit and start moving forward relying more on other riders mistakes than fitness. A short grouping of mini barriers begs to be bunny hopped so I oblige even though the little voice of reason in my head is screaming " you best not shank this". Thankfully I cleanly execute them and pick up about 2 spots on every lap as the section following the barriers is a very rough patch of ground making remounting challenging. I can see a group of 5 in front and bridge up to them just as we hit the pavement climb and the group blows apart. I'm so cross-eyed going through the start finish that I'm looking for the lap counter and realize later that the huge digital board over my head is clearly displaying time and laps. I even hear the announcer give me a call out and I'm delirious wondering how this person knows I go by "Shotty". For the last few laps I'm trading positions with 3 other guys only to move forward and then immediately get dropped. By the end I roll through in 33rd out of 55 starters. Not bummed at all, in fact massively inspired and thoroughly enjoyed the race. So I've got some work to do but I feel super good with my decision to join this field. It's far more motivating and I'm already thinking about what I need to do to earn a top 15 or top 20 placing by the time state champs come around.

A massive thanks go out to Blue Sky Velo for putting on a great event! Yes, you are making everyone else look silly out there. A great course, pre-reg and number pickup was a breeze, I was e-mailed results by 4PM that day ! Jen participates in triathlons and I'm always impressed by the level of organization at these events and bummed in how cyclocross pales in comparison,but Saturday proved me wrong. Great work !

Congratulations to Sram/Avid riders who all climbed to top spot on the podium this weekend: Zdeneck Stybar, Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers, way to kill it out there !

hope to find some images from Saturday, until then , thanks for reading
Shotty

Forward

2010-10-22T10:11:00.001-07:00

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself, but I've put on the Rhino's and installed spikes into my shoes. It's dumping rain out there right now and there are no guarantees that means mud tomorrow. Here on the front range, if the sun makes any appearance at all, the ground will dry up like Social Security.

This is prime time for racing in Colorado in my book; cold nights and cool breezy days, leaves are still on the trees and we've got a heap of quality races on the schedule. Saturdays Blue Sky Xilinx course remains in my top five of favorites ( especially in the wet ). I'm skipping Sunday as I loathe the course at the Louisville Wreck Center which is exactly how my back feels at the end of that race. Halloween weekend are back to back NACT events in Boulder and then the USGP pays a visit to the hallowed grounds of New Belgium Brewery in Mid November. Love It !

Best of luck to everyone pinning on a number this weekend
Shotty

Witness

2010-10-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

I returned back to the Pikes Peak Trailer Park on Monday evening after a few very long flights, it's now Wednesday evening and I'm still at a loss of how to capture the past weekend in words. I've had plenty of time to think about this, what with being sequestered in the flying aluminum tube for hours on end,but I'm coming up with nothing. So I'll just lay it out and see what unfolds.

Our Germanic dealer tour wrapped up late Thursday afternoon and my fellow Srammie traveling companions kicked me to the curb in Aarou, Switzerland. They were on their way back to Germany with a rental car to be returned and flights to catch. I grabbed a train ticket to Geneva and enjoyed a very punctual 2.5 hour journey through some potentially beautiful countryside but was well hidden behind clouds and fog. Thursday evening was spent solo and I was bit spun what with starting the day in the German speaking area of the country, moving into the Western French speaking section and deciding on an Italian restaurant with a full Italian staff that spoke Italian and a menu written in Italian (and French ).

Jen arrived in Geneva midday Friday and we grabbed our rental car and struck out bound for Leysin, a small ski resort on the Eastern side of Lake Geneva. It's situated about 18K Northwest of Aigle up some super fun twisty, narrow roads that start low among wine vineyards and wind their way up into an alpine environment. No sooner had we pulled into town, found our hotel and dropped our bags, I heard "Hey!, can you work on some brakes ?" Turned around to find Mark Legg-Compton and Katie who were directly across from us through a small courtyard at the same hotel. The global cyclocross community remains a small one,when you travel to another continent and coincidentally, those from your hometown are sharing the same hotel.

Saturday was spent dodging rain drops and snow and Jen and I explored town, hid from the weather in a cafe enjoying some amazing coffee and pastries. Both of us, desperate for exercise finally committed and suited up for a 3 hour hike up to an alpine hut through some very heavy snowfall ( the first of the season for this area ). There was a cog train that ran from Leysin to Aigle so in the evening we jumped on for the steep descent down to Aigle and went full native, enjoying some escargot, fondue and sampling the wine from grapes grown in the region. While working off the meal before catching our train back, we strolled around Aigle and started spotted riders campers pulling into town, just returning from a 2 hour aftrenoon time slot to do reconnaissance on the race course.

Sunday arrived looking a little less bleak, the clouds had lifted just enough to show off all the new snow that had arrived. There was a pretty stiff breeze but temps were rising nicely. One quick stop at the bakery to load up on all things tasty and made with real butter from happy Swiss cows and then we came down into town prior to the women's start. I'll say it now, my wife is a saint for having the patience to deal with me and the cyclocross OCD. I was barely functioning on Sunday with all thoughts on witnessing what about to go down. The race was held on the grounds of the UCI. It's a pretty impressive building with the Alps as a backdrop and a portion of the building jutting out to a sharp corner mimicking the bow of a huge ship. Cross in Switzerland is not a huge draw and crowds were pretty sparse. This was actually a benefit as it was very easy to move around the course and visit riders. We parked and immediately found Zdenek Stybars camper. I had pre-arranged a meeting through his Belgie mechanic, Gilbert so as not to disturb the pre-race routine(too much). Both Zdenek and Gilbert were extremely accommodating and we stuck around long enough to grab some photographs, have some rider cards signed and talk product for a bit. I'm super thankful that even as long as I've been around bikes and bike racing I'm still not jaded by being in the presence of, or meeting those who have risen to the pinnacle of the sport. This was a huge opportunity and I couldn't have been happier to partake. After letting Stybar get back to prepping, we wandered down through the rows of riders campers from Page, Wellens, Pauwels, Nys, Albert. Also on hand were the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com contingent of Stu Thorne,Tim Johnson, James Driscoll and Jeremy Powers who were looking to get some international competition under their belts after becoming bored and tired by climbing podium steps relentlessly in the States.

I won't go into a blow by blow of the race as anyone who reads this has most likely already absorbed all the digital media published from the weekend. But it was pure joy watching Katie get the season off to a sucessful start by completely dominating the womens event followed by Stybie crushing the field in the mens race. After watching countless hours of streaming video from my computer at home early in the morning, it's still hasn't sunk in that I was standing along the tape witnessing these riders race by me. At the end of the day and final podium appreance in which the announcer mistakingly though that they would be playing the French national anthem for the Czech born Stybar, we derbied our way back up to Leysin just as the sun was breaking through and got off some great shots of the area. To top off an already great weekend, we were invited to join the Cannondale crew of Tim, J-Pow, Stu and his wife Emily for a Feldschlosschen lubricated dinner out before packing up for the next days flights.

So there you have it, no this summary from the weekend still doesn't read the way I envisioned

it when this trip came together.What I can say is if you care about this sport enough,you owe it to yourself to witness these events. I'm going to commit to return at some point ( hopefully Belgium, just for the crowd factor ). You're more than welcome to join along.

Thanks for reading

Shotty

Here's just a few of the pics I came back with:

The curent World Champion and some dork on the right
Stu Thorne , enjoying some fine Italian leather

Tim, tweaking that the course was drying out

James and J-Pow, Peanut Butter Jelly Time

walk in the park for KFC

Interlocken

2010-10-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Frankfurt Germany. I'm here for a weeklong tour visiting key dealers in Germany and Austria followed by a side trip to the first UCI World Cup cross race of the season in Aigle, Switzerland. The plan is to take in a little sightseeing and then meet up with Stu Thorne and the rest of the New England Cyclocross Mafia at the end of this week. And if all works out, a little face time with Stybar.

But first, let me back up to Saturday morning. Bags are packed for my Euro trip and what better way to prepare for my late afternoon flight then to head up to Interlocken for the 2nd race of the Boulder cross series. This course is pure cross-heaven, and definetely the exception, not the rule of courses here on the front range. Interlocken is cruelly configured to demand maximum power output with some elevation gain and deep, thick , wet grass this year. It hadn't even dawned on me that the potential for mud would even exist. I hadn't installed spikes, neglected to throw my mud wheels in the car, it's been so dry here lately that I had planned on a fast grass crit. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Not sure if the grounds keeping staff had purposfully left the sprinklers running all night, but the track was completely saturated and SLOW. My warm-up had my heart rate pegged and I had serious thoughts about making a $25 donation to the organizers and going home. Again a huge 35+4 field ( I would have chose the 45+ group if I didn't have a flight to get to in the afternoon ) 125 guys strong and no call-up ( again ) since I had missed the Xylinx opener. I had a deep forth or fifth row start position and was witness to one very ugly first lap. Our hoard was sprinting to the first corner only to come to a screeching halt into our first bottleneck traffic jam. Thankfully the field strung out pretty quickly and then it was time to get busy passing. My goal was to get myself up to those riders who had earned a front row starting position.

It's always surprising to me how a course feels at warm-up vs. race pace. Perhaps I had hit my stride a 2 laps in but the course felt really fast, really fun ( techincal and muddy ) and I was moving through the field as best I could. A few of the techical bits through the sand pit got the best of me on the last lap as I was coming unglued a bit and manged to work my way up to 20th position by the end. A respectable Boulder series position however I was sill having some "what if" moments thinking about my placing with a better starting position or less errors on the course. But regardless, I'm super pleased with the effort I put in and that always puts me in the right state of mind to set off on another excursion. Be satisfied with the effort.

Couple of other things:
Because Greg Kellers enthusiasm for all the cross cannot be tempered, he was kind enough to serve as a megaphone for my work at Avid. Read it here

Also a Matt Pacocha review in Bike Radar here

Thanks for reading
shotty

Doubled Up or Doubled Over

2010-10-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

My Annual Cyclocross Secret Training plan: Revealed:
1: get a bike,aim for a light one if possible
2. as soon as you've reached any signs of fitness, stop riding immediately
3. travel to a foreign country - preferably one that is at least 10 time zones away, offers food that you cannot recognize and language to go with it
4. arrive home in a stupor and throw race gear bag in the car
5. pay $25.oo , pin on a number and sit back to partake in the mayhem that is your own body trying to adapt to it's new surroundings (again )
6. repeat as necessary

And there you have it, I wouldn't recommend this for everyone but it kinda works for me in some strange way. My M.O. after returning from Taiwan is try to get back into sync as quickly as possible and that means racing cross if the travel coincides with Fall. ( which it does...often ).
Jen and I made a weekend of it, travelling up to Frisco for a double weekend of racing. I dipped my toes in the 45+ open category for the first time and didn't find the water to be that chilly. I was happy, battling it out with Bob Prieto( Blue Sky Velo )who I've swapped many places with in the 35+4 group last year, including Bend Nationals. I ended up in 22nd spot out of 44 starters. Sunday was back in the familiar 35+4 group where I managed a 15th place...again. Same finishing position as the Sunday race the prior year. I guess I'm consistent ?

All in all, I am pretty pleased with these finishes. Frisco is an absurdly difficult course that requires more than 2 lungs and bike handling skills to boot. Lots of elevation gain and piles of wood chips are just aching to wedge themselves into your rear derailleur cage.

Next Saturday, I'm thinking about the deep grass at Interlocken, then followed by another trip to the airport as I'm off to Europe for the week. However there is a side benefit to this....I'll just happen to be near Geneva Switzerland at the tail end of this trip which coincidentally is near Aigle, host city to the first UCI Cyclocross World Cup of the season !! Yes, I plan on attending so stay tuned geeks.

see you Saturday
Shotty

Start Delay

2010-09-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

As I write this it's 1:25 AM in the Springs and I'm sitting in Tokyo/Narita airport lounge waiting for my last of 4 flights for the day that will take me into Taiwan for the week. By the time I'm grounded again, it'll add up to a 26 hour door to door journey.

As much as I would like to see if I could capitalize on last weekends decent start to the season, duty calls but after taking at look at some preliminary ride reports from the first race of the Boulder series today, it looked like another hot, dry and dusty affair. I don't mind forgoing this weekend in hopes that Frisco will bring some colder temps with the possibility of some precip, which is badly needed.

Before leaving for Taiwan, I prepped my bikes and packed my race bag. When I return and have been successful at avoiding some kind of viral malady I plan on getting in the way of the 45+ guys next Saturday and will most likely jump back in with the 35+4 gang on Sunday. I swear, there is nothing better than getting over jet lag than some openers with a number pinned on.

Sven's Pick

2010-09-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Pete Webber for cluing me into Sven's new choice for brakes ..hmmm..interesting
photo credit is ISPA

Anomaly

2010-09-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Saturdays Pikes Peak race was just enough of an appetizer to whet the palette and with a bunch of travel looming on the horizon, I made the decision to drive up to Golden for the Green Mtn cross event on Sunday. The not-so-little voice inside my head was telling me "don't go, ease into the season, it's going to be 120° today, you wilt in conditions like this". Never mind, I threw everything in the car and made my way North to a course I'd never raced on before. Upon arrival it was a full on reunion of sorts, all the familiar faces were back, a bunch of new ones as well. Our 35+Cat4 group filled up 6 registration sheets and that's when they capped our bunch at close to 125 riders ! I ran into both Dale and Bob Prieto who might have made the wise decision to bypass the mass and opted for the 45+ group. Too late for me, besides I wanted to race early and get back down to the Springs at a reasonable time. I took a warm up spin around the course with the Rich from the Frites group and we caught up on all things crossy.

An amazing fun course that I felt suited to someone else's talents, like perhaps a roadie that had been racing all summer. The course lacked any real technical difficulty, it was a flat-ish power course that required some decent cornering skills and speed across a soccer field covered in deep grass. Just 3 dismount sections, one additional if possibly the rider in front shanked a steep short climb that immediately followed a wickedly loose steep descent.

By now I'm thinking it's crazy hot (no likey)this course doesn't suit me at all (no techy) and no decent start position(no points). I weaseled my way as much to the front of the line as possible and was about 4 rows back when the whistle blew. Without much effort I had pushed my way into a decent spot ( top 25?) by the time we looped the field and headed out to the proper course. Because the course wound along close enough to sections behind, I could immediately see massive ball-ups and crashes behind, thankful to have missed the carnage. Races were averaging 7-8 minutes so picking out the line choices was key as we weren't going to be doing that many laps.

Then the strangest thing happened...I seem to be moving along pretty well...and I feel good ?! It was one of those "planets in alignment" days on a bike. Steadily moving forward, hitting all my lines. I passed Dale while he was filming and heard "top twenty" on lap 2. On lap 4 or 5 I head big B- Graves yell out "top fifteen" and thought to myself, well he's obviously started drinking early today and is suffering a mild case of heat stroke, and probably mixed in a few to many pain killers from yesterdays crash at Pikes Peak....poor fella. I manged to roll through in 8th place. This would be a new high water mark for me for any race in the vicinity of Denver with a field size this limit. Blown away would be an understatement. I hope I don't lose whatever mojo fell upon me on Sunday because it was working !

Now to the complaining: Call-ups, man I cannot let this one go. I really can't understand why the ACA will not keep track of finishes to determine call-ups at all races this season. It frosts me that the official stands in front of our group and runs through the top 20 from last season and that nets a total of 3 riders to the line.(seriously.) Do your homework and figure out who has either moved on to Cat 3 or 45+ because the current system is not working. Call-ups serve many purposes, one being safety. I think most races have a pretty honest view of their abilities and line up where they think they should be but no all do and when we continue with field sizes as large as they are, please reward the riders that are putting in decent, consistent top placings and award them a place at the front of the line for so many obvious reasons. This policy must change. Done

And now to something completely different, some pictures from the Pikes Peak race !

Thanks to Ultrarob for the pic

shotty

In the beginning....

2010-09-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am super stoked to have the first race under my belt. It wasn't a super impressive effort ( 12th out of 38-40 something riders ) but it was buttery smooth which was challenging on what is typically a ridiculously loose course covered in dried out grass, decomposed granite and hidden rocks everywhere. The course was the standard layout that it's always been used with one new section of very tight. compressed 180 degree turns. We haven't seen rain in quite some time here on the Front Range and the terrain has been baked into a very hardpacked slippery surface.

Call-ups seem to be determined by last years season long ACA standings and results to date, needless to say, no call-up for me but thanks to the thin field size, I had a nice outside second row start.

Whistle blows and I'm thinking to myself that it really doesn't seem like we were doing this that long ago. First turn, no calamities, most riders are being respectful and adjusting their speed and line accordingly. As we feed into a very sketchy off camber high speed right into a short straightaway left I see the Frites' own Brian Graves piled up on the left side of the course in a huge cloud of dust as he's screaming obsentities as another rider going down the road. Ah....reminders of Castle Cross last year when it was a poorly placed rock that was bearing the brunt of Brian's fury. The rest of the race was spent trying to move forward through the field and keeping the bike upright. This will be my first year ( ever ) racing on tuby's and I honestly don't know why I've waited this long. ( oh wait, I remember now,..... because they are ungodly expensive ) It feels a bit like cheating, running such low pressure, no risk of pinching and they hook up like mad. ( Dugast Typhoons btw ). I'm sold...until I slice a sidewall and have to take out a second mortgage for a replacement.

Being the first of year, I'm definitely feeling the 2-to-go fade, I thankfully held off riders from behind but was feeling the effort. I'm seriously thinking off making the trek up to GMVC tomorrow when I assess my condition in the morning. This is it for racing for me for awhile as I have travel plans to Taiwan again next weekend and then potentially Europe after that. My season may not start in earnest until the 3rd weekend of October. Great to see the cross family again. Lortie, Brian Graves, the angry Asian, Mr. Compton, Bob Prieto, Ms. Emmit and the Boob who planned on racing until he realized when heading out the door ready to ride to the race that he had left his cross bike at work.

That is all, thanks for reading, I'll try to dig for some pics as they are posted
Shotty

Back To School

2010-09-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

Where to begin ? I suppose where I left off, which was back in the Spring and not feeling terribly motivated to write through the Summer. So first off, thanks to the Frites guys, Keller, Lortie and Dale for picking up the slack and keeping the crossy vibe going though our Colorado summer. I trust that everyone enjoyed theirs ? I certainly did and as always, the season passed by far too quickly with most every weekend packed with something. Jen and I were able to carve out time for the must-do list. Steamboat on the 4th, a couple of shows at Red Rocks, hike a 14er, a few Colorado high country epics on the fat tires, a trip back East to our old stomping ground on the coast of Maine to partake in Lobsters, Whoopie Pies, Moxie and the deepest, darkest, root and rock infested terrain that you will ever roll a knobbie through. All on all, a fine summer, but I digress, because the fairest season of all is upon us, cyclocross season, otherwise known to some as just,Fall. Trust that even with a summer filled with extracurricular activities, I was still devoting some spare time prepping for our season.

Twins: yep I did it, after racing cross since '95, I finally put together a proper pair of bikes, Does it scream "poser" ?! Perhaps a little, but whatever, I harbor no illusions of grandeur, making my wife/friend/abducted stranger stand in the pit with my spare waiting with baited breath on my every gesture that I might come in for a swap. I'm relying on my puritan, Luddite New England roots that "by-jeezum, it's just common sense!" After last years mucky mud fest every weekend, I wanted an option so now it's done. Yes I will feel shamed when I finish in 46th place and sulk off back to the pits to pick up my "B" bike

Rule changes with Disc Brakes and 32c tires: the UCI and it's infinite wisdom decide that it's wise to massively increase braking power while reducing the size of the contact patch on the ground. Brilliant, this should make for some good racing

Call-ups: There aren't any. Granted I get that the ACA is trying to bring up the quality of the race experience with the Colorado Cup and just applying points on those specific races. However, this is troubling for the 100+ riders frothing at the mouth in the beer drinking dads league. I used to bank on cherry picking certain races ( Pikes Peak, Frisco, etc ) that I know would have smaller field sizes in order to earn a decent call up spot when it came time to race the larger events ( anything in or around Boulder ). So, I'm thinking about jumping in with the 45+ guys just to avoid the rush for the start line which may prove to far uglier than the fight for the hole shot.

I'm finished ranting, I can't wait to see everyone soon. As of today, I'm not even sure I'm racing this weekend as I seemed to have sprained my groin with an over enthusiastic remount with cold muscles. Riding a bike right now isn't feeling too comfy but I'm trying to be good about staying off the bike. As usual, my plan is to race myself into some type of shape. We've been granted an extended season this year so I'm in no hurry, especially when the weather doesn't scream "cross"

Thanks for reading

shotty

Summer Break

2010-05-20T17:15:00.001-07:00

It's come as no shocker to those who have visited this site that my interest in writing has been waning as of late. My apologies, the well hasn't run dry but the motivation to sit at the computer and send out drivel is not there. Besides, the weather is too nice, get off the computer, whip yourself some reasonable fitness and I'll see you back here on Sep 15. ( if you race 35+4 in Colorado, please continue to sit at the computer and enjoy a refreshing pint or two of Ben and Jerry's finest ) Trust me, I'm already putting my ducks in a row for the 2010 cyclocross season. Have a great summer, I hope I see you on the trail!

Shotty

2 Degrees

2010-04-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Whew..! Can't believe I found my way back to this site, it's been that long. Returned from vacation tanned, relaxed and in a deep funk. Downtime this time was far to short, while the outing was exceptional, I was just beginning to get into the daily groove when reality had me sitting on a plane a mere 6 days later wondering what had just happened and how do I go back and stay back there.

Life is far too short to not indulge yourself with taking in the scenery. I think the perspective of a radically different environment sets a ground swell shift in what I believe to be important in life, namely family, friends and making the earth a better place while you were here (albeit that most infinitesimal spec of time in the big scheme of things).

I truly love the life I share with my wife, our home, my job, I count myself as one of the lucky ones who truly set a course early on and has been extremely fortunate with that path taken. However I'm still restless, for every trip taken I mentally take a piece away and try to apply that to everyday life, perhaps the more I travel the more my life takes on a shape of what I'd like it to become or what it will be in the future. We'll never know what the future holds for us, what may sideline us down a different path, what may slingshot us into the stratosphere.

What I do know is that I'm planning a lifestyle change at some undetermined time in the future, probably when the balance between life's responsibilities and life's desires swing firmly towards desires. It's going to be absurdly fun, perhaps risky and hopefully pay off in huge dividends.

A long time ago , I either read a piece or heard it through someone about charting a direction in your life, pick a compass heading. If you stray off that heading even by 2 degrees, the longer you stay on that course the more difficult it is to get back to your original heading. Prior to moving to Colorado many years ago, Jen and I were grappling with some life changes, we were comfortable in Maine but that was the problem, comfortable gets old and I equate it to drifting off course. When we were visiting Colorado and trying to decide if the right opportunity's existed and whether or not to make the move, we went on a hike to talk it out, clear our heads. On that hike we stopped for a snack and drink of water. I looked down at my feet and there was someones compass on the ground, The signs could not have been clearer.

Thanks for reading my philosophical ramblings, now onto the immediate future: Namely the 4th Annual Paris Roubaix Day. We are hosting our annual road/cross bike ride up the Santa Fe Trail to the Air Force Academy North Gate, ride back and join together for Brats, Waffles and Chocolate,Belgium Ales, Frites en Mayo followed by a viewing of the Road to Roubaix and then coverage on Versus.

The rest of April is filled with a trip out to the Sea Otter classic near my old stomping grounds of Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay area and a trip out to Fruita at the end of the month for the Fat Tire Festival, hope to see you out there.

Shotty

2010-03-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Our Daily Schedule:

1)wake up..hang out in hammocks enjoying coffee while watching howler monkeys

2)stumble down to the beach and go snorkeling until noon-ish

3)enjoy Frutas Mixto-typically fresh pineapple and mango

4)retire to the pool and read/nap/swim when hot/watch iguanas

5)back to the beach for sunset, body surfing-boogie boards-surfboards or just floating on back watching pelicans

6)dinner-past out at 9PM

7)repeat

I'm Out

2010-03-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

Time to hit the mental reset button, the wife and I are headed to Costa Rica tomorrow for some much needed downtime. We do our best to make an annual pilgrimage to a warm and sunny climate this time of year and meet up with longtime friends from Maine. We can only stay landlocked here in Colorado so long before we start seriously pining for the smell of salt air and to be immersed in the ocean, baptised if you will.

Hasta

Shotty

Goings On

2010-02-15T18:04:00.000-08:00

Buried completely and only occasionally coming up for gasps of air. This is why there are few words as of late. Tis the season....lots of projects wrapping up and beginning to look ahead to 2012. Life has been filled with work, play, flu, home projects, bike projects, dogs and of course still rabidly following the remainder of the cross season. Yesterday morning, Jen walked into our spare bedroom/office while I'm transfixed to the monitor watching Stybar take yet another win for the Superprestige overall.

Her patience might be wearing thin after 20 something continuous weeks of speaking cyclocross. Oh ! and speaking of cross go here for a killer video compilation from Nationals in Bend, I spotted myself ( actually staying upright on film this time ) at the 2:34 mark in this vid. it's the shortest snippet and I had to spend a considerable amount convincing Jen that it was actually me, but watching this has me seriously jonesin for next year.

Or will there be some changes amuk at USA cycling requiring qualifying for Nationals because the field sizes are becoming too large ? Lot's of discussion on this topic. For a punter/pack filler like myself I can see the reasoning behind this, while I would hate to be blocked from participating here are 2 immediate thoughts: 1) Please keep the B race and make sure that Cat 1 riders are not allowed to participate and 2) This is motivation, if there is some sort of qualification criteria to participate you can be be sure that I actually start training

I think I share an affliction for the "cross-over" season. You see, I'm not much of a roadie these days and when the cyclocross season is over, it's straight to the fat tires. However, here's the rub, when I've spent the previous solid 4 months on a 700c wheel bike that is hovering around 17lbs, I have some issues with throwing a leg over a 28lb, 5 inch travel bike with small wheels. It's KILLING me!! so gawd-awful SLOW. Solution: get some big wheels with one gear: So here it is, a new ( to me ) Fisher Rig

I am digging this bike! most of the trails down low that are still rideable during the winter are especially suited towards singlespeeding, especially when taking treks down to Pueblo Rez which is wagon wheel heaven. What else is new ? Well, while in Taiwan last month, I get a call from Jen....who's at the Animal Shelter....you can probably guess what's coming:

His name is Rico, a 3 year old male Chihuahua mix who , in a word is awesome. Seems as though some famous actress type in California has popularized this breed of dog to the point of over saturation and now the LA area is shipping out the overflow of these dogs since the owners seem to think that the "fad" has passed. Absolutely pathetic behavior and people need to wake up and realize that dogs are not a fashion accessory. Their loss is our gain and we're giving this little guy the home he deserves.

Thanks for reading,

Shotty

2010-01-31T10:48:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Srammie sponsored Zdenek Stybar for earning the stripes today !!! To be able to control the pressure of being labeled the favorite,riding on home turf, a super techy course covered in ice and snow....todays performance was the definition of PRO

Photo Credit:Riccardo Scanferla

Finish Lines

2010-01-23T03:57:00.000-08:00

The bright strobes and flashing signs all around Taichung city create this extra-sensory experience that cannot be created elsewhere. Vegas has tried but it's no match for the seizure inducing overload that is Taiwan at night. I'm back in the ROC for what should be the second finish line for this past cyclocross season. We should be wrapping up the last pilot run of the Shorty Ultimates cross-canti brake in the following week, but as always to finish first, you must first finish so not by any means will there be any pre-celebratory raising of the arms, finger banging, pointing to sponsors and the sky shenanigans. This will be a heads down all the way to the line finish.

Taiwan and all it's OSHA-free restrictions take some getting used to and it's never,ever dull ( especially dining ), nevertheless I always take something away from each stay here. Today, three other co-workers and myself included, took off to the foothills for a hike. A good way to spend some time when staying through a weekend here. The hike turned into something a little closer to an amusement ride in a theme park. The "trail" consisted of a tight, twisty sometime near vertical, and off camber gang plank of logs pieced together and at time precariously perched on the side of a cliff. Let's be clear, the use of this trail would NEVER be allowed in the US. While all of us had our packs with water and various nutritional supplements in the form of gels, blocks or bar form, by the time we reached the top of our loop after a solid hour or more of trying not to trip and take a potentially life threatening fall from the trail, we came upon this scene.

A nice leisure day in the mountains with friends/family.This group had packed in all kinds of stainless cookware and stoves for a proper lunch, brought a newspaper, they made up some tea and coffee and few other adult beverages. It couldn't have been more obvious that at times we must leave the conveniences at home and set aside the time to ensure the best quality downtime possible.

On the cross front, too much news, Our man Stybar takes the big W at Roubaix and thereby the World Cup lead with only the Finals left in Hoogerheide this weekend. The possibility of the Cyclocross World Championships coming to American shores in 2013(never thought this would happen in my lifetime!!!! ) The Neils Albert drama that for sure opens the door for Stybar to take the stripes in his backyard. I literally cannot sit still watching these races lately, just an amazing string of racing.

As always, thanks for reading and apologies for the lack of posts as of late, been busy building up some big wheels- sans gears...details to follow
Shotty

PS: photo credit of Stybar goes to ispaphoto.com

A Nice Start to 2010

2010-01-03T15:51:00.000-08:00

After a few days of rest, yesterday was spent down at Pueblo res, soaking up some sun,singletrack and warmish temps chasing the Boob around on his wagon-wheeled singlespeed. This was immediately followed by digging into a fine chile relleno burrito washed down with a Jarritos at a fine Taqueria in downtown Pueblo.

Then today, Styby and Pauwels making me super pleased ( as well as the folks who sign the checks at Fidea ) with a 1st and a 3rd on the Ultimates. full story here

Worlds is going to be a barn burner, Stybar has fine form but has been eclipsed lately by Nys who's had a phenomenal week but encountering heaps of issues staying on his bike or keeping his bike together. Albert just needs to keep his mechanics from plotting to sabotage his chances at another championship after today's little episode. Props to Jamie Driscoll for a 16th place today. It's great to continue to see the results come through for those commited to moving over to the Motherland.

credit photo goes to ipsaphoto.com

2009-12-31T14:36:00.001-08:00

Wishing you health and happiness in 2010, Here's some highlights from the past year

An EPIC Paris-Roubaix Day

Independence Day in Steamboat

Big bikes at Keystone

Mainecation

Cross Nationals in Bend

And for a little reminiscing, here's a shot from (about) the beginning of this decade

THIS!!!...this is cross!!

2009-12-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

My sentimental favorite Styby ..( for obvious reasons...I'm a company man to the core ) would LOVE to see him take the stripes on his home turf.

Check out the photography from Zolder WC here...stunning, absolutely stunning work

A Bart Hazen shot of Stybar from the Loenhout race, also check out the insane power output in the video from this race

Downtime

2009-12-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

It's been downright wintry here, spare time on weekends has been time well spent watching the World Cups in the morning on Crosstube.net, followed by stuffing my face with holiday leftovers and doing non-cycling type things like visiting our new rock climbing gym downtown. I thought I'd throw out a couple of recommended reads for the dark season.

First up, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Let me be perfectly clear. I strongly dislike running...it borders on hate. I can't think of any other mindless, boring activity to partake in,other than perhaps.....jogging, so while reading this book, I must say, it actually makes me want to go out for a run!!! It's an amazing story of the Tarahumara Indians of Copper Canyon, Mexico and their extraordinary abilities to run ultra marathon distances. There's some evolutionary explanations on why the human body is born to run while another interwoven story is told of Tarahumara's being brought up to Colorado to compete in the Leadville 100 ultramarathon race. This tale (which at times seems like fiction), then culminates with the best North American runners traveling down to Copper Canyon to see how they stack up against the locals. Read it, trust me, you will want to head out on the trails by foot.

Second, The Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne. Yes, that David Byrne, former member of the highly eccentric band, Talking Heads. I've been a huge fan of Byrne's musical work for decades and this book didn't disappoint either. While travelling the globe, he brings a folding bicycle in order to explore his surroundings. It's not a "bicycle book" per se, sometimes I was lost in his thoughts on modern art or architecture but it's a fun read and glad to see that someone else feels as though the bicycle can save the world.

Lastly, The Wild Trees, by Richard Preston. For about 3 years, Jen and I lived in the Santa Cruz mountains surrounded by massive redwoods along the California coastline. It was remarkable to be able to see so far through the forest but because the canopy's were so dense that very little light actually made it to the ground. This is a fascinating story of those persons who dedicated their lives and careers to studying and searching out these massive trees, some reaching almost 350ft into the sky. Many had their own very own ecosystems at this height. It's a great read about what brings a number of people who's personalities are polar opposites of each other together to live and seek out these trees.

Plan B...you can't sit still with a book ? Pop in the Road To Roubaix, in my humble view. The BEST cycling documentary ever...yes...ever. A Sunday in Hell is fine but nothing else captures the Queen of the Classics like this movie

Wishes

2009-12-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

My best wishes to everyone during this holiday season!! A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May your cup be filled with what fulfills you the most.

I was going to use this space as a "best and worst"of the past year but will pass. Suffice to say, it was one of the years I've ever had! Filled with all the "normal"peaks and valleys that come our way.Is normal boring ? Hardly... 2009 was marked by deep satisfaction by many things, a wonderful companion to share my life with, family and friends, constant personal growth and the drive to rise up to challenges, particularly at the workplace, a non-exclusive membership among crazed group of fanatics who like to race their bikes in the worst conditions possible. The past year was also marked by deep sorrow for a friends loss,and those who are suffering in some very tough economic times.

Thanks to all who've stopped by for a read here, there has been more than a few occasions where I've thought that racing uses up enough energy as it is, I don't want to continue to burn precious spare time by writing about it, but it seems as though there are enough of you on the other side of the tape ringing your cowbells and yelling encouragement, so I keep plodding along here and say thanks for that.

Here's to 2010 ! Happy trails and may the wind always be at your back.Have a great holiday season!
Shotty

Commuter Races

2009-12-21T16:35:00.000-08:00

Well, apparently the racing fire still burns...on a long slow climb up the bike path to work, a fellow cycle commuter passes me without as much as "Hello or Good Morning". I let it go but I've seen this guy before and he processes no common courtesy towards his fellow riders. The more I think it about and the further he goes up the road the more steamed I get. So down goes the chain and I am firing on all cylinders while using whatever last specs of fitness remain from the season. It takes me awhile but I catch and pass, look over and fire off a cheery "morning !" and man, did that feel good.

Pics from 45+ Race in Bend

2009-12-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to James Huang for sending these over....also, go here for a beautiful video of the mens 30-34 race

States- redux

2009-12-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

My bold, strategic move to slide down that tricky part of the States course backwards and on my back captured on film about 31 seconds in....enjoy!!

Acknowedgements

2009-12-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

Feeling a little out of sorts with a open weekend on the horizon. After 12 consecutive weekends of racing it's not a huge surprise. While I'm very much looking forward to some downtime, there's still piece of me that desperately wants to get out and open it up and charge hard, it's difficult to find something else to fill that void. As usual, I'll get over it and embrace the space.

I'd like to take the time to acknowledge of number of persons who make this silly obsession possible every year.First and foremost, my honey for giving me a strings-free hall pass for the entire season. ( I know it wasn't easy ) J Mathis, my co-pilot for the entire season, pretty sure he's hooked. Lortie, for the stunning imagery, Keller and Matty O for the contagious enthusiasm and inspired speed. Matt K, Rich, Brian, and all the FMVC guys who keep racing in perspective. All the 35/4 guys who I've been chasing all season, the Brads (2), Bob P, James H...shouldn't you all move up next season ? New local cycloblogger, Dale Riley, thanks for posting all the videos so I could re-live how badly I was shanking it. So many others, especially those I re-connected with in Bend, from the New England Cross Mafia ( Stu, Timmy,)to the Santa Cruzer guys and girls ( E-Richter, Willie B, Justin and Jenny ) . To all family and friends who have sent encouragement from afar.

This season, unlike any other, our cross family has grown exponentially and it never ceases to amaze. Thanks All !!!

What A Day

2009-12-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

What can I say...I've never seen a cross race like the one I witnessed today, crowds were at least five deep in most good viewing spots on the course and the volume was turned ALL the way up. To the point where you could barely hear Dave Towle's announcing......it was that loud. Seems as though the Portland vibe and all it's crossy madness had migrated East for the weekend. Drum Crops, some guy dressed as a pirate playing a saxophone, another dressed only in a Mexican wrestling mask and a speedo, Santa Clause was here....everyone came out for the big show. It was a pleasure witnessing Tim Johnson take his 3rd Stars and Stripes jersey (obviously paying attention to my valuable advice (scroll down) has paid off ). For the ladies, it was the Katie Compton show all over again and she took her 6th National title. Well done to everyone who laid it all out there today. Cyclocross continues to be the greatest show on earth. Bend put on a great race. Mark your calenders for next year and make the trip.

The day was made that much better by a surprise visit from some former Mainiacs now residing in Oregon ( seen here enjoying the best frites..ever..there's some kind of additive properties to the spicy mayo that are slathered all over these things )

As for now, there's still plenty of season left ahead for the Euro's.... check out Stybars new brakes!! (photo courtesy of Bart Hazen)

Thanks for reading

Shotty

The Finale

2009-12-12T17:44:00.001-08:00

Friday afternoon marked my last race for the 09 season, and I couldn't have been happier with the race, so much so that it almost got over on me after crossing the line. I ran a super clean race, avoided the inevitable pile-ups and just tried to lay down some nice smooth power for the entirety. I wasn't lapped or asked to leave the course. The track thankfully had thawed slightly during the day and while temps and sunshine were simultaneously plummeting during our race, the traction was far better than Thursdays "B' race. My effort netted me 50th place out of 139 starters in the 45-49 group, I'm calling it good since it's further up the line than last years Nats and I started about 3 rows from the back. This sport always gives back more than I put into it and I'm super thankful for that.

Colorado riders are continuing to take home the stars and stripes jerseys. I'm not sure if Danny Summerhill took the Espoirs race today but Jon Baker took the win in the 35-39. Pete Webber crushed everyone by 45 seconds on the 40-44 ( YEAH PETE!!!!!) and when I left at 4PM Paco from Velonews was leading the 30-34.

Noon was open course so I spent that time critiquing riders techniques then following up with them post-practice to point out their obvious flaws

TJ could use a little help with his shouldering technique

Jamie Driscoll finally understands how to set up for bunny-hopping a barrier, ( check out his sweet frame pump!...what a dork ). I was trying to give Jeremy Powers a little help but his bike was literally run over by a Lincoln Navigator while we stood beside watching it happen. (He wasn't on the bike at the time)

Tomorrow should be a barn burner. There's a lot of unknowns, namely what course conditions will be ( they seem to be changing by the minute ) Todd Wells seems to be in fine form. Trebon looks confident, no one has seen Jon Page yet. The Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com Mafia guys are on a tear and work very well together. For the ladies, it will most likely be the Katie Compton show

That is all from Bend for now, Thanks for Tim and Jamie for putting up with shenanigans and thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this seasons ramblings

Shotty

Backwards and Forwards

2009-12-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to bore you with the blow by blow on how our State Championships went down but suffice to say it was HARD. I prerode during the 35 Opens with Griffos on and thought traction was decent, the course was still mostly frozen and the extra volume provided some floatation on the snow. Big mistake, I brought my Michelin Muds and left them on the spare bike thinking they wouldn't be needed so when temps rose and a skim layer of grease formed over the frozen ground it was mighty difficult charging the lines that I wanted. All in all, a great race, the ICCC guys did a great job with the cards they were dealt. I bested last years placing by one position (15th) and thus ended the Colorado season ( sniff...sniff..dang...I'll miss you guys)

Here's a summary of sorts of the Colorado Season
12: Starts
1: DNF
1,679: Appox number of miles driven to races
15: packets of Gu used
0: flats!
7: highest placing
38:deepest placing
3: crashes
2: trips to Taiwan during the season
0: illness' caught
Best New Race on the Calender: Castle Cross

Bend Update: Arrived yesterday and barely got to my start on time for the killer B race. Scrambled to the hotel and built my bike, pinned on numbers and arrived at the venue 30 minutes prior to start! The course at this time of the day is treacherous, a layer of dry snow on top of rock hard frozen icy ground. You can spot these frozen ruts sticking out above the snow and must avoid them like the plague. I only had 1 minor incident when I lost my rear end around a hair pin and managed to stay moslty upright but drove my knee into a fencing post. My co-worker Scott MacLaughlin, a Srammie from Chicago came by me for the win ( on Shorty Ultimates! ) with 1 to go and that ended my race but still was super fun derbying around.

3 things that have made an impression on me
1) the tech area looks like a mid-90's Norba National. I've never seen such a presence like this at a cross nationals. The lot is filled with team trucks...very PRO
2) The amount of carnage on the course yesterday, 170 something guys on a tight slippery course, a recipe for disaster. self preservation kicked and and I rode probably too cautiously
3) Rabid fans, our race was at 3:30 pm, it's getting COLD..fast and the sun is setting, there were still ton's of people out cheering and heckling

Stay tuned for more soon
Shotty

2009-12-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

Bikes are prepped and waiting for what will most likely be my last race on the Colorado calender, our State Championships are being held up in Arvada tomorrow. Here's all I know...there's a "death spiral" and winter has set in here...hard! This morning temps were hovering around the zero mark, there's snow on the ground and while tomorrow is supposed to be hinting at 40's, course conditions will most likely be perfect..again!! Frozen, rutted, slippery icy mud ! This season reminds of the Surf City Series in Santa Cruz during an El Nino year, just non-stop epic conditions!!

As soon as my race is over, my Jamis gets a thorough wash and tune and goes in a box bound for Bend. Sunday, we leave with some friends for Francie's Hut for a few days of sliding on snow in the high country...sweet! Then it's back in the germ tube on Thursday for Nats...at this point..a little downtime is all I need for the holiday. I'll be posting as often as possible from Nationals so while I won't have much new news for a while, stay tuned for more to come about mid week

Thanks for reading
Shotty

Rehab

2009-11-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

Apparently I have a disconnect between brain and stomach. I mean..I love Thanksgiving..."gravy? why, yes please", "gee, I don't think I've tried all 32 dessert options!" "are there larger plates available or just overflow ones available ?" "race bikes ?me ?...I think you are mistaken"

As in past years, Jen and I made the trip East to Kansas to visit with my side of the family for the long weekend. Thankfully, the consumption is slightly balanced by the fact that everyone leads an active life, so we all went on a few walks/hikes and stick with tradition when we turn our backs on the approaching rampant consumerism that is Black Friday. Instead ,we spend a day doing a few odd jobs around my sisters farm . Last year, I balanced the meal with a nice 56 mile road ride between their homes, that ride didn't quite pan out this year so while I wasn't keen on jumping in the car again after a 7 hour drive the day before, I felt as though it was in my best interest to go race my bike at Sunday's RRV #2. Besides, I had a bone to pick with this course.
loading up for a hike ( or swim, for the dog )

Jen's new ride...a hayburner to replace the 29er

eliminating emergency exits for goats

a break...supplemented with more cookies

Last weeks Pike Peak race netted me a second row slot on the start line. A couple of pre-lap warm up laps showed that the course had been modified slightly, still stupid hard and techy in spots. There were a few sections that would send out mental suggestions, saying "go ahead, sit up here and take a breather...this is a hard sport and you deserve a break" best to avoid those voices and keep your head down and keep the power on, otherwise you'd get dropped like a rock. I got off to a decent enough of a start but was immediately flustered by traffic and not being able to approach barriers, sand pits, run-ups etc, at the speed I wanted. Subsequently, I found myself trying to play catch up without much of a top end. ( and carrying an extra bunch of pounds around ) With 2 laps to go, the afterburners finally kicked in ( late!) and I started moving forward and finished through in 16th position. Thankfully, the course didn't get the best of me this time and was super pleased just to have finished without any drama. Modest goal of keeping just enough points to earn me a semi-decent callup at States was met.

Huge congrats go out to the Boob , who took a win in the 4's on what would be his last race for the season. I'm not sure where the time has gone and we are already looking at the end of our season...or are we ? I booked a flight to Bend and I also keep reading rumors of a few January races for the front range.

Looking forward to seeing you all at States this weekend, best of luck to all out there who are wrapping up their seasons. Thanks for reading

Shotty

Photos

2009-11-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

Many, many thanks go out to Shawn Lortie for the images added to yesterdays post below

more images can be found at UltraRobs site and more links in 303Cycling

I failed to mention one other great side story yesterday. It was Danny Summerhill, super honch, pro for Garmin Slipstream sitting on the trainer in the pit area after his win...cheering on his Mom who was racing in the Masters Women group....yep..it's a family sport!

Pikes Peak Supercross #2

2009-11-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

Local racing is the finest kind of racing, Saturday was a nice change of pace, no packing the car the night before, no alpine start to Boulder County and then having to deal with football traffic on the drive south, not having to sit alone in a darkened kitchen with my bowl of oats. Our dog won't even hang out with me on these early cold mornings. But Saturday was nice, a good leisure start to the day.

Course conditions were once again, primo. By our start, the frozen ruts had just become to transform themselves into a slippery skim layer of mud on top of frozen ground. I walked the course on Friday and immediately decided then that the Michelin Muds were going to replace the Griffo's again and I wasn't disappointed, tires were hooking up like velcro and if I didn't have any control over a line choice, it didn't matter, these tires are just amazing in slippery conditions. Thanks to a smaller field size ( 41 starters ) and a overly-caffeinated cheering section, I pulled off one of the best races I've had in ages, a 7th place which will hopefully enable me a semi-decent start spot at States in 2 weeks. Bob Prieto from BSV and I shared leads for a about 4 laps where I would pass in the barriers and running sections and then he would crush me on the paved climb. Fellow finishers from our little Avid family was Jim Mathis in the 18th spot and Matt Hunt in 36th. Obviously super pleased with my top ten, but even more so by how the remainder of the day unfolded. I wanted to stick around for the rest of the afternoon to cheer on some co-workers and friends who would be racing in the Cat 4's and 3's.

Chris Wilkerson was one of the guys. He's made 2 prior attempts at racing cross. The first being the Pikes Peak race 2 years prior. That race ended within the first half lap with an exploded rear derailleur and no spare bike. The second attempt was at Chatfield Res last year, I won't go into the ugly....ugly details(again) but it's worth taking a look here. Well, with perhaps a little cajoling and some trepidation, C-Dub decided to throw his hat in the ring again and nailed it finally. It was a ride inspired ! He sat at the back for the start ( to smartly avoid any calamities )and steadily wound his way up to 18th spot with a massive grin most of the way.

Also racing in this group was longtime friend/co-worker Jeremiah Boobar, fresh off back surgery from about 8 months ago followed by more months of rehab and a super focused effort to whip himself back into shape. He's dropped a heap of beer gut and was also on the tail end of some kind of sinus infection. Perhaps it was the antibiotics, but he sat near the finish line at his start time wondering where the rest of the field was until realizing that the whistle had just blown on the other side of the river and he was placed on the exact opposite side of the start line and just missed his start. Thus began a massive TT/chase. He was well over a minute back on the last guy after the last lap. In chase mode, he was going way...way faster than the leaders of this field. By the time the 45 minutes were up, he had moved into 11th place ! With a proper start. it would have been a podium day.

Next up, the 3's. Matt Klick had driven down with his sweetie to do his best to lay waste to his speedy compadres. I haven't stuck around a race for the entire day in a long time and let me tell you these guys have it tough. By their start time, the sun is already sinking below the mountains and the temperatures are dropping quickly. Volunteer officials and race organizers are literally breaking down the course as the races progresses. I think I counted 5 spectators, all significant others helping with encouragement and hand-ups.... "go babe!!!..you're doing great !" The venue is mostly quiet, no bells, horns, kids running around...nothing. Matt had a phenomenal couple of laps but was victim to some coordinated attacks that came from behind and wound up 6th.

I'm not ready for the end of the season that's rapidly approaching. I'll be extending by a week and heading up to Bend for Nationals where my primary responsibility will be work related in regard to the Shorty Ultimates but will try to grab a spot for a "B" race prior to the championships races.

Till RRV, here's wishing everyone a Happy Thankgiving, I hope you're all able to share the day with those you cherish. Cheers !
Digging for photo's from Saturday, if you find some please post a comment with links, Thanks

Shotty

Not so pro-file

2009-11-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

Head on over to The Road Diaries to get the skinny on where were at with Shorty Ultimates, if you see me or my fellow Srammie, Jim Mathis at any of the remaining front range races and want to take a squeeze, give us a yell, (be forewarned though, I run mine moto style )

Thanks to Zellman who got it mostly right, except for the fact that I race in the slow Masters category. if anything it's worth taking a look at the New England Cyclocross Mafia Mob Boss, Stu Thorne cleaning my filthy bike

Saturday!!!.....Saturday!!! Pikes Peak Velo Cross....see you there
Shotty

Community

2009-11-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Woke up feeling pretty darn good after flying in from Taiwan the day before. I look outside, it's spitting rain and snow, low grey clouds and temps hovering around freezing. Perfect. Might as well race off the lag and besides, getting to Sundays race in Boulder sounds like a dodgy affair with a bunch of snow on the menu. I was running around the house in super panic spaz mode trying to gather all bits and pieces of bike stuff that I needed for the day. The bike wasn't really prepped. I was pulling clothing off the line that had been left there from the last race. Everything is chucked into the car and off I go, almost an hour late.

I arrive at the venue with about 50 minutes to spare. Jim rolls over looking for a pump, " you look like hell " he states, since I hadn't yet looked at myself in the mirror yet, I can't disagree and no , I managed to forget my pump at home, along with chamois lube and embrocation. After paying for my number, I huddle in the back of the Element and change as quickly as possible, apparently too quick as I zip up the skinsuit and realize that I forgot to attach the number. Off comes the suit again, pin on the number, suit up again and then I think I've lost a glove. By the time I dial in tire pressure and use the facilities one last time, any opportunity for a warm-up or course re-con has evaporated. I just pull up to the line, pass on a call-up and think I'll figure out the course as we go.

Oh to be 18 again...no seriously, This is the 3rd time this year that I've slotted into this position. I am pretty darned pleased with this race despite my body not really knowing what time zone it's in. The course had a nice mix of wide open power sections, a Return of the Jedi type singletrack and of course some sand.

Thanks for the folks at the ICCC and the FMVC who put an emphasis on a family/community day of cross racing. There was a newbie race which I think is badly needed in our area. Starting out, even in a Cat 4 race could be WAY more intimidating for a first foray into cross racing. Nestled into the newbie race was also a tandem category with some pretty impressive coordinated dismounts and remounts. Hot Dogs on the grill, huge pots of hot cocoa, a nice fire pit to keep spectators happy and also a very well attended memorial service for a club member who was tragically struck by a motorist a week prior.

It was a nice low key day at the races, and the atmosphere was quite unlike any other event that we've had this season. well done.

Thanks for reading and Jim at Six Degees to Slush for the photo's

shotty

Life on the ROC

2009-11-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

the Republic of China, Taiwan or "backwards land" as I like to call it because as I'm turning in for the night, everyone back in my original time zone is just beginning to start their day. I haven't done a tally as of late totalling the number of trips here but believe it's somewhere in the high teens. Their culture never ceases to disappoint though, they are the most outgoing persons who will make sure that every single one of these visits is enjoyable.

Their work ethic is bordering on obsessive and it shows with the recent success' in building up and modernizing their infrastructure, and the ability to build things like very cool, lightweight carbon fiber bicycle bits, although at a severe cost to the environment. Thankfully there have been many improvements in that arena as well. Perhaps it's their independent nature, while technically they are under the thumb of the nearby behemoth of China, there's a very visible streak of individuality, the language is slightly off from traditional Mandarin, the politics are polar opposite of China and the food is wayyyy better. When China requires that they they fly a "Chinese Taipei" flag at the Olympics instead of their national flag, I think that just adds fuel to their motivation.

Go to Taichung and hurl a rock in any direction and you'll hit a supplier making some widget for a bicycle, it's all here. If it's not here than a Taiwanese based company has opened a plant in China to supply factories building and shipping bikes from the mainland. There's some quality road biking once you leave the urban areas but mountain biking is just about non-existent. That's slowly changing as there are many DH specific gravity trails popping up in the steep,

densely forested hills above Taipei city. Shuttling is accomplished by attaching a tow-rope behind a scooter.....they are resourceful and you can fault them for that.

Cross "racing" plans will be dictated by quality of sleep tonight and road conditions. Hope to see you out there.

Power Trip

2009-11-09T00:15:00.000-08:00

It's currently 1:15 am in Colorado, I'm sitting in the United lounge in Tokyo/Narita airport, filled to the brim with Sushi and missing my girls already!

Also still feeling the effects of Saturday's Schoolyard Cross which despite the warm , dry conditions might go down as one of the most enjoyable races I've had this season. I didn't experience my typical "2 to go fade" in fact it felt as though I ran out of real estate and time. The course was predominately flat and non-technical..read: FAST, stupid fast and requiring a massive wattage output. This is typically not my style of course or conditions ( warm, sunny ). Despite having a pathetic points standing, I still received a call up and slotted into the 2nd row. Whistle blows and the rider in front of me slips a pedal and does a couple of swaps/tripod moves in before regaining control. By now, a good third of the field was up the road, I got pimped in a couple of turns as the course narrowed and I was immediately relegated to the middle of a 80 rider field. Time to chase and pick off as many spots as possible.

Super thankful for a few things that worked to my favor: 1 ) the double rings up front as I spent a considerable amount of time in the 46T. 2) a mud pit, while we had a hefty dose of summer on the front range this past week, the race organizers took it upon themselves to break out the hose and water down a long straightaway, I was able to pick off a few spots every lap through here. By 2 to go, a Crossniacs rider and I were sharing an epic battle for who knows what placing but you'd think it was the last chance for the green points jersey at the TDF. A few gentlemanly passes on both our parts. With 1 to go he was clinging to my wheel as we headed up what was easily the toughest long uphill bumpy grinder of a climb with 2 barriers at the top. We both exited the section cleanly, jumped back on the pavement for the finishing straight. I've never possessed any type of sprinting skills whatsoever but I was fired up for this one and besides, Dave Towle was announcing and whipping the 5 spectators into a frenzy, I barely kept my spot on the line, good enough for 19th spot. Past the line,we both congratulated each other on a job well done and then Mr Crossniacs went over to a nice shady, patch of grass to puke.

Love this sport.

Flight Plan

2009-11-05T17:50:00.001-08:00

One more derby for me this weekend at Schoolyard Cross in Louisville on Saturday and then on Sunday, it's off to Taiwan for the next iteration-pilot build of our cross brake. 13 times zones away, 3 flights for a total amount of flying time of 15-17 hours, which makes a door to door excursion of about 26 hours ( give or take a few minutes ). To get an idea, don't sleep for about 3 days and then spend a full day inside a carnival fun house. That's the closest analogy to describing how I feel when I get home again. The Cross Crusade race is out, and the Boulder series wrap-up is a definite maybe. I'm going to do my best to race off jet lag...for sure, steer clear of me if you pass mid-race and my eyes are closed...it's just a quick nap.

Here's to an early arrival of the cold front on Saturday as this weeks weather on the front range has been positively un-crossy....can't really complain, we've had a really nice balance of perfect ( snow, cold , mud ) and not so-perfect ( sunny, warm )

Line Choice

2009-11-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

Although I haven't found it yet, I'm pretty sure I'm labeled with the following statement " For best results, best to operate in temperatures between 25° -55° F" .

Saturdays race was a blur and seemed to end mere moments after it started, which was a shame. Pure joy, playing in the mud, the filthier the better. It feels as though the body is pulling energy from each new glob that flicks off the tire tread into your teeth. For many of us, the individual reasons that we gather every weekend are as varied as the lines we choose across a mess of goop, although I think that at the core, all our reasons are exactly the same. Camaraderie. If I raced with you or encouraged you from the other side of the tape it's because we can all relate to the ability to push ourselves to the best our abilities and leave nothing on the table. To suffer like hell for 45 minutes and hope to come out of it smiling, to share our battles on the field.

Shawn Lortie, super fast dad, who shared his secret to speed, don't ride during the week and partake in Margs at the Rio whenever possible

At the end of my day, I filled up the 18th position on what is consistently, one of the best courses and well run event on the calender ( there was even a high school marching band in attendance )The fact that it was an NACT race, made it that much sweeter. It was great to spend some face time with some long time New England Cyclocross Mafia members, and witness Tim Johnson putting on a clinic on how to race cross by besting his teammates by a solid minute and a half !

Jesse Anthony, consummate pro and gracious enough to lend his hand to the product development process

A few factors figured into my decision to pass on Sundays race. First was that my start time was 8am ( too early ), The venue was changed to the Res ( once a year is enough ), a Halloween party the night before ( cheeks sore from laughing at absurdly creative costumes) and it was just a perfect Fall day to spend with my honey. I did get out on a dusk ride on the Indy Fab down the Sante Fe trail as the moon rose over downtown....perfect weekend

Check out Rob O Dea's pictures from Saturday on Kellers site....amazing.

Thanks for reading

shotty

Saturdays Pics

2009-10-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lortie for the photo's

The Perfect Storm ?

2009-10-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here's what the weather service has to say about the next couple of days:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO416 PM MDT TUE OCT 27 2009...
MAJOR WINTER STORM FOR NORTHERN COLORADO TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY....

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS LATE TONIGHT AND THEN MOVE SLOWLY ONTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH THURSDAY.THIS STORM WILL BRING HEAVY SNOW TO THE NORTHERN COLORADO MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND SPREAD ONTO THE NORTHEAST PLAINS WEDNESDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP PRODUCING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.TRAVEL WILL BECOME DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.RESIDENTS SHOULD PREPARE FOR A LONG DURATION OF WINTER STORM CONDITIONS FROM WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY.

Sweeeeeeeet. I'm hearing a total accumulation of at least 8 inches or so which will turn most of Saturdays course at Xylinx into a cold, frozen, quagmire of muck. Michelin Mud 2's are mounted and clean, all I need to do now is avoid my workplace which resembles an infirmary right now. There might be 3 of us that haven't yet caught the crud sweeping through our building.

A Tale of Two Venues

2009-10-25T16:02:00.000-07:00

Let me first say that the planets aligned in perfect formation to bring the Front Range the best cyclocross conditions we've seen in awhile. Temps were cool and sunny on Saturday and Sunday brought a blanket of low grey menacing ceiling of clouds, and rounds of light snow showers all day.

Saturday: Castle Cross
On the drive up from PPTP (Pikes Peak Trailer Park) I started spotting big remnants of a snowstorm that blew through mid-week. While we didn't receive any accumulation of snow in the Springs, by Monument pass and all the way to Castle Rock there was still a decent coating of the white stuff left on the ground. Me thinks there could be mud today !!! By the time I pulled in the lot, my hopes were confirmed, super dirty riders pulling off the track onto pavement and leaving long strips of mud down the road as their tires cleared. A warm-up lap confirmed that 1. This was going to be HARD, lots of elevation gain and loss, super muddy, 3 run-ups, and lots of off-camber jogs. 2) I had the wrong tires on, the Griffo's were not cutting it (pun intended) so it was back to the ever-reliable Michelin Mud 2's which were absolutely perfect for the greasy conditions.

Not sure if everybody was scoping bargains on a Coors Light Team Jersey from 1989 at Velo-Swap or saving their legs and lungs for the sand trap that is Boulder Reservoir but the field size was low, perhaps 50 guys in our group. Because of this I actually managed a front row slot and managed to pull off a very decent start. I was sitting top five for most of the first lap. Then everyone got serious and realized they had numbers pinned on so this must be a race and should get down to business. There was a particular mud hole that I was wary off, since the least goopy line felt as though there was a rock hidden underneath the soup. I felt a rim strike and made a mental note not to hit it again for fear of pinch flatting. So I return to said mud hole on lap 2 and decide to pick a line to the left, I drop in and literally "drop in", over the bars (again) and I land on the backside and now completely covered in mud. I grab my bike and there is so much viscous fluid trapped between my gloves and bar tape, I can barely control my bike, the chain is off so I just slam the chain into the big ring just to get the chain onto the rings again. Despite the lack of control and a few choice words, I'm back on the program and actually having a seriously good time trying to maintain control and not slip too far backwards.

Clydesdale extraordinaire Brian Graves from FMVC caught me after my swim, gave me a very polite "on your right" then promptly rode away from me. I put my head down and started to slowly bridge back when I saw him duck around some bushes on an off-camber sharp left then I hear a string of very vocal expletives and I round the corner to see an impressive bike toss (mind you, not quite as impressive as this guy, but pretty good). Turns out, his sidewall was sliced open on a rock and that was the end, too bad too, because he was really on a tear (pun intended) yesterday.

The remainder of the race is just taking care of damage control as the soggy ground is sapping any kind of power clean out of my legs. Riders a strung out in huge gaps and I seem to be in no-mans land. No one close to bridge a gap and no one behind for a ways. I roll through in 12th happy as a clam, deep in...mud.

Thanks to the crew at Green Mtn Sports, the course, organization, and volunteers were phenomenal.

Sunday Boulder # 3
After spending a good part of Saturday afternoon cleaning mud out of socks, ear canals, shoes, nostrils, gloves, etc. ( I am certain that cleanup lasted longer than the race ). I prepped for sand-fest 2009. I have serious love-hate relationship with the course at the Boulder Reservoir. I think there's something fundamentally wrong with riding/running/struggling through an inordinate amount of waist deep sand. I know that there are specific World Cup courses held in Belgium on courses similar but much, much harder than this, but that's why the punters sit by the sidelines, drink copious amounts of alcohol and hurl verbal abuse at their favorite riders. The pro's should race courses like this, that is why they are pro's and they get paid good money to ride thier bikes in ridiculous conditions. For the rest of us, it's just not that pretty to watch the fumbling, stumbling, tri-poding and wallowing in the sand. (the exception was Matt Pachocha from Velo-News who while warming up, was making everyone look like idiots as he easily rode through a slight uphill, long section of sand that every other mortal was shuffling through)

So why race this ? When I put together a solid race, I have OK results here and actually have decent time ( but I still detest so much sand )The past 2 years, I've been plagued with flats, first time with no spare wheels or a bike, the second year, I was sitting easily in the top 20 and flatted in the front and shanked my wheel change, losing heaps of spots. Today, I ran a super durable fast, fat tire, the Michelin Jet. I have been a huge fan of this tire for a long time. It provides decent flotation, good traction in most conditions and has some hefty casings. I can run these at very low pressures without worrying about finding some sharp object lurking underneath the sand waiting. With some light snow showers overnight, the sand pulled in a nice amount of moisture so some sections were fairly fast and starting to pack down. Despite one of my worst starts in a long time, I was able to put together a pretty solid race with no issues (except for pimping another rider in one of the sandy switchback turns and causing him to topple over--sorry! but I was stuck on a line). I finished up in 20th and got my single BCR point....whooo hooo !

For Halloween, the NACT circus arrives in the Peoples Republic and we are in for a treat(pun intended) as we get to watch how cyclocross is done by this countries best.

Thanks for reading!
Shotty

Movie Fans

2009-10-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

This Thursday the 22nd, Race Across the Sky is playing at theaters all over the country. a documentary about the 2009 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race and the epic battle between all-around super nice guy,mountain bike honch, Dave Weins ( 6 time winner ) and some roadie named Lance Armstrong. Check out the details and the move trailer here

Shankapotomus

2009-10-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

Race # 5 today at the Tony Grampsas Park in lovely Golden, CO. ( basically across the street from the Coors brewery, based on the smell that was a cross between burning tires and hops, I'm going to guess it's not brewed from the fresh, clean waters of the Colorado rockies ). A beautiful Indian Summer day here on the front range with temps pushing 80. I should have taken this as an omen and stayed home. I pre-rode the course which presented more than it's fair share of challenges, but also a super sweet piece of very fast, shady singletrack, a nice place to gather your thoughts and recover. A clever use of a sand volleyball court and which we went through twice, one short route, one long. There was also a very short, but steep set of stairs that dumped us out onto a bumpy flat before a sharp left, steep drop-in back to the track. While I was watching the 35 opens tackle this section, the treads on the wooden stairs were coming loose and there were a few riders botching the remount and having to run down the drop-in.

After missing Valmont, my call-up was on the bottom of list but still enabled a pretty good spot on the 3rd row. Attendance was down but still a sizable field ( 80 maybe ?). Start was ridiculously hard, a gravely loose, uphill onto freshly mowed dead dried out grass ( so dry, it's slippery!). Brian from FMVC was shouting out encouragements behind as I swept across his line about three times almost sending him into the weeds. The first lap was producing carnage everywhere, it's been a long time since I've seen this many riders hit the deck. One endoed right in front of me heading into the sand pit which sent me off course and over the tape to avoid running him over. By laps 2 and 3, the mayhem seemed to be settling down, I was picking off a few riders and saw my rabbits in front of me to start chasing down. And that's when everything came unglued in one lap. I came up to the stairs and had a clean dismount and run-up, as I went to remount, the back wheel hit a rut and bounced high and to the outside, I had to quickly abort the remount and when I came down, I lost my footing and fell down the drop-in, leaving the bike at the top. I scrambled back up and pulled my bike out of the way and got back to making forward progress. This little episode has spiked my heart rate so high, it was all I could do to spin nice easy circles and any bike handling skills previously available were absent now. I was shanking all the good lines in a desperate attempt to move up again. That's when I came up with the brilliant idea to come warping into the sand pit at full speed and keep my momentum as high as possible. I went in and misjudged the depth of the sand in my line and promptly buried my front wheel and did a super high speed superman over the bars.

Thankfully the sand was soft and loose, I was up quickly and unharmed but I was completely spun and slogged through the remainder of the sand pit. I rolled back into the grass and started up through the start-finish area and noticed that my right shifter had suffered some sort of life changing event and wouldn't release cable. I was stuck in my 27, and there are much worse gears to be stuck in but after everything that had already happened, I wasn't in the mood to "2-speed" it through the remainder of the race. I was finished getting in the way of competent riders and pulled off course.

That's when I ran into honchy racer/photog/artist friend Lortie, who offered up his sweet full carbon Scott so I could jump back in, but at that point, I was finished. Pretty frustrating but it's been awhile since a course has gotten one over on me so I offer my congratulations to the designers/builders/hard working volunteers of the course today. I thought one lap through was sufficient and they proved me wrong. Lesson learned. I nice little shaded "picnic" with the FMVC boys post-race brightened my mood considerably. I now have 6 days to re-focus and try to get my game back. Let's hope for better weather.

Thanks for reading
Shotty

Really.

2009-10-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sundays forecast, that's a bummer. I can't rally for an 8am start up at Valmont on Saturday so RRV # 1 in Golden will be my pick for the weekend. Whomever has been responsible for laying out the Red Rocks courses over the years, they deserve heaps of credit in my humble view. The races at the Morrison Elementary School were phenomenal, for not that large an area, they used every foot with a purpose in mind, it was super fun, especially when when nasty weather was involved. The track at Bear Creek flowed like water and a single race up in Evergreen was pretty epic, so I looking forward to yet another new venue in Golden. Best of luck to everyone pining on a number this weekend.

Shotty

The Real Deal

2009-10-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

That's me (#567) scoping out my competitor from Blue Sky Velo and their nifty knee warmers, one is white ( left ) the other, maroon (right ). OK, now that's smart because it never, ever fails. I arrive at a race confident that I have not overlooked any details as far as what I need for the day. So, is it a cruel joke, some sort of sick collaboration between those who make gear bags and those whom manufacture cold weather cycling accessories that they all must come in the "color" black ? I mean really, I open up the cavernous black fabric-lined hole of a gear bag peering at more black headbands, black gloves, black knee warmers, black arm warmers, base layers, caps and I'm completely spazzing out because for sure I can't find the one piece I need. It's inevitable that I end up hauling everything out, it's strewn randomly around the interior of the car until I sort out my mini-crisis. It's like a kid losing their favorite blankey, all is well again once favorite and treasured Sugoi headband is found, like the day would be ruined without it! We all know that black is slimming on our svelte figures and as far as an accessory goes, it matches everything but I'm thinking it's time I start a color-coded accessory plan and put an end to the madness.

Sunday was # 2 in the 4 part Boulder Series Races. This was my 5th year in a row attending one of my all-time favorite venues. Nothing but deep green, lush grass, a sandpit to contend with and lots and lots of turns, thankfully off camber ones. I was extremely tentative about how the day would play out and if we would even be able to reach Boulder, thanks to a very foggy, raw, cold,very un-Colorado-like weekend. Everything was coated with a layer of heavy frost and the side streets resembled an ice skating rink. I reached Jims place without incident and he greeted me with a " Good Morning ! This is stupid!" By the time we rolled up on I-25 headed North the roads were clear and actually dry as soon as we departed the Springs. This eased my mood considerably and I started looking forward to some REAL cyclocross conditions and that was exactly what was delivered.

Thanks to a couple semi-decent finishes at Frisco I was treated to a call up ( albeit a 3rd row callup but I'll take it, especially with our group filling out at close to 100 riders, so much for weather conditions hampering field sizes ) I had a great start after a very short warmup and not even checking out the course. By lap 2 I couldn't feel anything past my wrists, complete solid blocks of ice, so shifting and braking was interesting. I was seeing riders ahead of me that I had passed the previous weekend but the course and cold were working slightly against me as I couldn't manage to bridge the gap. I would catch them through the barriers and sand pits, they would ride away from me on the switchback climbs back through the trees. I did a fairly decent job of damage control and managed to never really slide back during the race but never gained any ground either. I finished in 23 place and am very pleased with that. It was pure joy riding across a blanket of downed leaves and frozen wet, icy grass in such cold conditions, it felt very much like New England conditions in the heart of the season.

Due to an 8am start time, I think I will pass at the Valmont event next weekend, although I'd love to see the progress on this park. For sure I will be attending the RRV race at a new venue in Golden, has anyone ridden this yet ? Any feedback would be welcome

Thanks to Six Degrees to Slush for the pics

Thanks
Shotty

Happy 1st Blogday

2009-10-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Veldrijden Colorado turned one this week ! A massive thanks goes out to those who have tuned in a regular basis, offered up words of encouragement, left a comment, sent readers my way. I had no expectations or even a direction to take when I started throwing down my drivel onto the inter-web a year ago but I've thoroughly enjoyed sharing my cycling-centric life with all of you.

Today is a rest day before heading up to Broomfield tomorrow for Boulder Series #2. This is under the assumption that I'll actually be able to get there, currently there are heaps of traffic accident reports all over the front range due to the fact that's it's below freezing and drizzling here in the Pikes Peak Trailer Park. Looks like a decent amount of snow in Boulder but the forecast calls for temps in the 50's and some sun. If travel goes smoothly this race will be EPIC

Thanks for reading
Shotty

East Coast Bloggah

2009-10-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Wheel over to Jesse Anthony's new site...It's pure coincidence that we run the same bikes, I swear I'm not a stalker !! Makin' me proud as he rocks the Shorty Ultimates at New England Worlds

Weekend Plans

2009-10-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

I'm going bonkers watching the weather scenario unfold for this weekend !!! Mid 40's , good chance of snow flurries Sat and grey and raw on Sunday. Could it be any better!! Because of my all encompassing general resistance to change ( my wife will attest to my "stick in the mud" nature ) I think I'm going to pass on Saturdays Cross Crusade race. I like the new format and get that they are trying to emulate the UK's 3 Peaks race, but I'm a traditionalist and like the short laps of 45 minutes and racing in the fall. So when I see everyone on Sunday and they blah, blah, blah, about how awesome Saturdays race was and how epic and rad, etc , etc I'll just have to stand there and take it and live with my decision, so be it. I've got a domestic day planned and need to pay attention to buttoning up the house a bit before things really get nice. So I'll see you Sunday on the grass at Interlocken which hopefully will be super wet and slippery as a smelt.

Welcome to another crossblogger: Crossin Colorado, he's posted some vids from last weekends event up in Frisco

Frisco Double

2009-10-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here are my tips for ensuring a "successful" weekend of back to back racing:

1) Despite the fact that it's your anniversary weekend, convince your significant other that what you really have in mind for her is standing outside on 2 very brisk Autumn days while said husband drags his carcass around in circles whilst simultaneously drooling on himself ( from nose and mouth! )

2) Bring hyper-vigilant dog with to ensure that you lack a proper amount of sleep both nights prior to racing. I recommend a terrier mix with bat-like hearing that will alert you to the fact that someone is walking past your room at who know what hour of the night.

3) Make sure you have some minor-crisis during the race to raise the excitement level, because we all know how boring cyclocross can be at times.

4) Drain the battery on the camera and leave the charger at home so no photographic documentation will ever exist

By following the above tips to the letter we had, for sure had an excellent weekend in the high country. Huge props to the fine folks who put on Frisco Cross. The courses were AMAZING and it was nice to participate in an extremely well run event. Registration people were super friendly and thankful to to take my money (vs. some others who view us racers and our cash as a major inconvenience on their weekend morning..no names ) Results were posted immediately following the race. Brats and beers were readily available.

Saturdays course was techy, favoring bike handling skills slightly over fitness. The start was a long straight dragstrip paved incline that dumped us onto a very fast, very loose, woodchippy descent. Without sufficient points status from a late start this season I tried to get up as close as I could to those with a call-up. I had a decent start and was immediately and pleasantly surprised by how good I felt for so little racing and the fact that we were at about 10,000 feet of elevation. The course came off the woodchips and segued into some very sharp, very loose turns, some in dusty loose, dirt, some on pea gravel. I witnessed heaps of crashes and front-end washouts due to the conditions. This race was super fun for me due to some battles with fellow riders, I would gap a group in the technical sections, they would come back strong on the road climb, we were going back and forth like this for about 3 laps, at the 3 to go marker my rear derailleur ingested a stick, I heard that sickening sound of the rear derailleur about to wind itself into the cogset so I immediately back-pedaled which thankfully spat out the stick however my hanger and derailleur were twisted enough to make me think twice about putting out large amounts of power. The cogs were sitting at 15-20 degrees off center, I still could shift but had to be super careful about not sending the cage into the spokes of the wheel. I managed to roll through in 18th place out of about 60 riders. Thanks to the guys at Mafia racing who loaned me a stand and tools to fix my bike post race.

Although Day 2 had a chance of precip, it was not to be for us morning racers. The day was bright and sunny although clouds were moving in fast and the wind had picked up something wicked. Sundays course favored the fit. There was a long, steep,very loose run-up on the backside and still maintained a few of the woodchip descents from Saturday. I had a horrible start. We charged up the pavement again but this time, dove off to the right into a huge pile of woodchips with one or two good lines. Immediately a massive plume of fine dust went up and all lines were obliterated. As soon as we were strung out I felt way too spent to start picking off riders. I was just sitting in trying to compose myself. A few laps in, I started feeling better and would pick my spots to start passing fellow riders. On lap 3 I came around a corner and witnessed what looked to be a handful of riders gathering themselves and leaving the scene of what I assumed was a crash. There was a long piece of tape across the course and I managed to ride myself right into it, It wrapped itself into my front brake, but I was able to easily reach down and give it a good yank. I freed most of it and continued on until I looked down to see the majority of the tape wrapped around my front hub and fork blade. Didn't seem to be impeding progress and I didn't feel like losing time and places so I left it. At one to go, I bridged a gap up to 2 other riders with the clever intention of having them pull me through the long flat section directly into a fierce headwind. I was so smitten with myself and my plan and as soon as we hit the section they both just rode me off their wheel...bummer. I did manage to improve upon the previous day and finished in the 15th spot. Turned out that the piece of course tape that I pulled from my wheel was about 5 feet long!

Great weekend, spectacular scenery, a nice night out with my lovely wife (if you're looking for a fine dining experience in Summit County, go here), good times hanging with my cross family, always good to see to see Matty O, Keller, Pete Webber ( caught up on Maine getaways ), Rich and Brian from Frites and Mayo who said they would return for Sundays race but a no show (Roller Derby get the best of you guys ?)

Thanks for reading, next on the horizon is Boulder #2 at Interlocken
Shotty

School Bells

2009-09-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the season, to me feels a little bit like the first day of school, a little exciting , a little awkward...we're out on the playground and there's some "sizing up" going on, wondering about who's prepared for this, who's clearly not, showing off our new Trapper Keepers. If I had to use one word to describe yesterdays race, I would pick ,HOT! Too hot for my liking, I welt under conditions like that and yesterday was no exception. This did not come as a surprise, it felt super good to be racing, I felt like I cleaned all the barriers, sand pits and techy sections nicely but it felt as though my head was going to explode from the heat. I think I finished mid-pack somewhere, I wasn't putting any pressure on myself for results, after a solid week off the bike and a trip to Taiwan, I will be racing myself into shape this season. Curiously, the ACA officials decided to not post results for our group if we weren't in the top 25 ! I'm really not sure if they started getting confused with lapped riders in a large field( 92 riders! ) or someones hand cramped up, perhaps they were short on volunteers but we had the same size fields last year and ALL results were posted ( sometimes they were incorrect but nevertheless, they were up ) so, kind of disappointing to not know exactly who's race I was obstructing.

My fellow Srammies, Jim joined me as well as Andy who showed his appreciation to us for introducing him to this fine sport by coughing up a nice bit of bile with blood mixed in after he crossed the finish line...yep , he's hooked. It was great to see the usual suspects out and about yesterday. Keller from Boulder Cycle Sport/Mud and Cowbells, Big Tom was out as always, I was particularly stoked to re-connect with Matt, a riding partner friend of mine from back in Maine. Despite a huge chasm in levels of fitness between us, Matt always humored me by dragging me out on some beautifully loopy, hilly road rides and I'd show him our local trail rides. After we'd come back to town, I would collapse on the couch while Matt would change out his gear and go for a 3 hour trail run. After we left Maine for Colorado almost 5 years ago, Matt headed East, way East to one of the "stan" countries to climb, then picked up a Masters at UAF in Alaska and his pursuit of a PhD landed he and his wife to be in Denver recently. My cycling family never ceases to amaze me, despite years that may go by without a word,that time or distance doesn't diminish the strength of our friendships, thankfully cycling is still the tie that binds us all and I am forever grateful.

Jen and I are spending a pre-wedding anniversary weekend in the high country next weekend so hope to see you at Frisco Cross

Shotty

Jesse Anthony on the goods

2009-09-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

thanks to Rob O'Dea for the great photo

30 seconds to start

2009-09-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

It's coming down to the wire, my cross season is about to officially get underway at the Boulder series # 1 in.....Louisville ( insert Debbie Downer sounds here ). I've had semi-decent results here but it's a brutal course..super rough, I hoping that this weeks snow and rain will linger long enough to dampen the dust. Tonight's practice session was held under perfect cross conditions, temps hovering barely above 40 degrees with a light rain, the leaves are turning, I felt super good and was pushing nicely,trying to keep it smooth and blow the Taiwan funk out of my system. Then a shooting pain up my right shoulder while portaging the bike...feels like some sort of tendon/ligament issue that will go away in 6 months time if I don't do anything so I'll nurse it along and hope that it improves. I highly recommend not getting old.

As of today, the Interbike show in Vegas is underway, as well as Cross Vegas, you may have seen this, which is something that has been consuming probably far too much of my time at work since about mid-March. It's the reason I spent the past 12 days in Taiwan and might be run by Jesse Anthony of Jamis tonight. It's out there and it's up to you to decide if we've done our homework.

Hope to see you Saturday
Shotty

2009-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

After a brief respite, it's off to the island again, on a mission to do our best to enhance the lives of cyclists everywhere ( with specific focus to those who take joy in riding around in compact, tight courses with obstacles in miserable weather ). Today, I'd rather be reuniting with those whom I haven't seen since last December, but I'm not terribly heartbroken about missing the Bear Creek season opener. Duty calls, I have a greater purpose, I'll see you all at Boulder #1 (I hope Interlocken!! love this course ). Best of luck to all those who will pin on a number today and go home this evening with a raspy-phlegm filled cough, reeking of embrocation!! See you soon, please don't knock me off course when passing

shotty

exactly

2009-09-09T15:53:00.001-07:00

great tweet from Trebon:

@ryantrebon For sure moto riding counts as 'cross training. Cornering skills, speed adaptation, it's all part of the program...

Vacationland !

2009-08-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Jen and I are bound for the coast of Maine to meet up with family and friends. With jobs/careers that we both love, we pour all our energy into each day so when when it comes time to look up and take a breath, that it some cool sweet air and a fantastic view.....ah,downtime! I shipped my mountain bike prior to our arrival as the surrounding trails where we used to reside are absurdly difficult to ride and an absolute hoot when the A-game is on board. A dark green loamy tunnel just filled with rocks crisscrossed with roots mud pits, oh and steep, there are no patches of flat terrain. It's the polar opposite of Colorado and that's what needed to flip the mental reset button.

The Peanut Gallery- Take 2

2009-08-22T16:04:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesdays practice session brings out another great interaction. A few moms taking their toddlers for a stroll around the park stop us at the top of the long run-up and ask " excuse us, but are you guys professional cyclists ?"

the reply in my head went something like "fraid not, we're the hacks who when swinging the bike up onto the shoulder let the saddle hit themselves in the head and knock our helmets into our eyes"

still flattering and funny though !

Couple O' Links

2009-08-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Riding a Felt Cross Bike ? Read This !!!

Keller's 15 minutes of Fame! Read

The Fat Tire Revolution - Redux

2009-08-15T10:52:00.001-07:00

Here is my prize piece of nostalgia from the early days. The Specialized Stumpjumper Team , a limited edition bike and only available in an outlandish version of Barbie pink. I acquired this bike by literally flagging the owner down during his ride in the Santa Cruz mountains some 10 years ago
It needs a new saddle, a Deore XT thumb shifter and some proper Ground Control tires, but otherwise, it's all there and in amazing shape. Check out the Tommaselli moto brake levers, Biopace chainrings, and a Shimano Shark Fin. Most everything else is Specialized house brand parts, the Crankset, hubs, rims, headset. I need to go take this thing for a ride

Peanut Gallery

2009-08-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday evening, four of us are humming along through cross practice on a very warm night. Kids soccer camp coincides at the same time and location so I think we earn a few quizzical stares. We had placed a barrier on the edge of the soccer field about 10 paces prior to a very steep dirt path run-up. As four of us in succession move over the barrier and up the hill in what I would call a very fluid manner; a couple of kids yell at us from the top of the top of the run-up as we're all re-mounting " that was totally rad, dudes!!!"

The Fat Tire Revolution - The Final Installment ?

2009-08-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

The first Ross Stage race held in Wendell State Park in Mass in 84 had come had a pivotal time as I was headed off to my first year of college in a matter of weeks and this race felt very much like it has cemented my identity...as an off-road rider. Although I never would realize it at that time, the bike and the activity would not only define me and my future, but helped guide me through being successful at school and beyond. The sport and more importantly the community surrounding it was, and is, a haven. Once I had entered college up in Keene, New Hampshire, I immediately sought out other like-minded riders. One of them being a year ahead of me and riding those most coveted of bikes, a beautiful black Fat Chance. Martin Dombroski was also from southern Connecticut, he was the previous owner of a shiny,chrome finished Ross but then upgraded to this Fat Chance that he had purchased from a close friend who owned a shop in CT. (Martin would go on later in life to own this shop) At that time I still owned the Univega but had upgraded to a Gary Fisher Montare. one of the first Fisher bikes that were offered at a very reasonable price as it was sourced from Asia. While I enjoyed the red Fisher, I still pined for some Somerville steel.

On a whim one weekend, I loaded up as much food and water as I could carry and headed East on the bike towards Peterborough, some 20 miles away. My goal was to visit the EMS store there but I was sidetracked into a tiny, hole in the wall shop where I saw it. A blazing red Fat Chance with black decals for sale. It was my size but had some goofy riser bars installed that I didn't care for but whatever. I managed to work a deal where I traded in a heinous Benotto road bike and the Gary Fisher plus a measly amount of cash for the Fat Chance. The sport had completely engulfed me, it was a huge amount of pride to be riding something made with caring hands, that was specifically designed for classic New England woods riding.

Martin and I spent a great deal of time on the weekends exploring the woods all over Keene, our posse size was growing slowly and every new addition came back with a massive ear to ear grin filled with black flies and mud. The Fat Chance was absolutely dreamy, the old Fisher felt like an old sled in comparison. The wheelbase was nice and short, but with a slack head angle and short chainstays, the bike just floated over the nastiest terrain. An added bonus was while Martin and I were home during the summers in Connecticut, we would still get together and find new places to ride. I also continued to race, the Norba Eastern Nationals were to held in our state so by all means we would be in attendance. During that summer I was working with my brother-in-law doing home construction work. I would fill a day working and then jump on bike until dark in order to prep for this race. Much like the initial Ross race, the Eastern Nationals brought in some serious talent. Tomac, was there, riding for Mongoose bikes at the time. Ned Overend made his appearance back when he was sponsored by Schwinn. I was completely geeked out over the fact that Ned and I shared a camo-graphic Bell V1-Pro helmet. Martin and I raced the Novice class and I managed to pull off a win that day with Martin coming in second, perhaps there was some sandbagging involved but that race wasn't a cakewalk.

It finally dawned on me about halfway through school that their just might be some way to pull off making a career out of this mountain bike thing. There are others out there doing just that, so what could stop me from following in their steps. My focus during school was technically oriented, computer-aided design and manufacturing. I was super intrigued by developments down in Somerville, Mass. that had some ex-Fat City employees dabbling in Titanium with a new company called Merlin Metalworks. I had reached out to them for a project at school where I wanted to do a study of Titaniums properties, someone at Merlin was kind enough to send me a chainstay to run some tests on. I received an A on that paper and I think my prof. was a bit dumbstruck at the time as to why such an exotic and costly material was to be used on a childs toy...a bicycle of all things!! One of my classes was about tool design so of course my focus was on a better way to hold a tube or a frame during the manufacturing process. During my senior year, I drove down to Somerville and interviewed with Chris Chance very much hoping/planning for a foot in the door at Fat City doing something...anything. Turns out that doing something...anything wasn't going to pay that well and Boston is not a cheap place to live. While I was there, I walked across the parking from Fat City into Merlin. This was a study in extreme contrasts. Fat City was dirty, very punk rock, loud, dangerous even. Merlin on the other hand was obviously run by pointy heads who may have come from MIT nearby and just happened to like bikes. Super clean shop, beautifully crafted bikes on display...nerd central. By graduation time I was very much in love with a girl from Maine ( yes, the first time I spotted her on campus was while she was riding a Peugeot mountain bike) I followed her to Maine and fell into a position managing a bike shop in coastal Camden. Being a responsible for what was on the sales floor, of course Fat Chance and Merlin were both represented nicely.My obsessive/compulsive tendencies with all things two-wheels continued unabated. I finally bid the old Fat Chance a fond farewell and moved onto a Wicked Fat Chance. The yearly Norba National at Mount Snow VT had become an institution, a meca for riders from all over the Northeast. The XC loop was legendary for how ridiculously difficult is was ( and still is ) if it rained, the very talented smiled, the rest hung their heads. In 92, I was riding through Camden, when I spotted the Rockshox tech van and trailer, fresh from working the Mt Snow event. I'll admit I was giddy as a little school girl, I quick wrote a note to the driver asking/pleading with them to come down to the shop and give us a clinic on suspension forks, something none of us knew anything about except that Rockshox was on to something. Terry Howe was driving the van and sure enough, he stopped in and we had a nice couple of hours chatting. I threw out the possibility that if he ever needed any help working an event in New England then please give me a ring. As luck and a lot of persistence would have it. Terry contacted my the following summer and I spent the next 3 weekends, one at Mt Snow and an additional 2 up in Quebec, drowning in shock fluid and absolutely loving it. Paul Turner, founder of Rockshox attended those events and I was able to make a half-assed attempt letting him know that if Rockshox was hiring,then I'm your man. Whatever work ethic was on display at these events was recognized with a position as an R&D tech at Rockshox's facility in Boulder, CO. Pure heaven for bike nerds like myself.

I mention in the header that this is the final installment. I've been wanting/almost needing to put down ALL these words for a long time. I've always wanted some mean of capturing an amazing course in my life and I know may of you have shared this same path. I wrote in the first installment on why the mountain bike is the best invention of my lifetime. That a bit of a bold statement but I mean it. This bike was responsible for getting millions of people to think of bicycles in a whole new way,in an entirely new light. From the mountain bike spawned the commuter, the hybrid, an evolved townie bike, comfortable road bikes. Think about it. This was the nineties and who do you know that didn't get a mountain bike or a version thereof. Sure for some folks it didn't stick but for the most part we are still feeling the positive effects of this revolution that took place decades ago. Mountain biking is responsible for providing my wife and I a very modest living, the ability to travel the world, keeping us healthy and happy, meeting the most amazing people I've ever had the pleasure to ride with. Mountain biking is directly responsible for my obsession with cyclocross. Cross is blending my old-school road bike roots with the attitude of mountain biking, cross is not for everyone, it's ridiculously,stupid hard but pays off massive dividends, much like it's fat tired cousin.Thanks a ton for reading all this, hope you enjoyed reading it as much I've enjoyed reminiscing- Shotty

Day One

2009-08-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

The first evening practice session is in the books, the wife's eyes rolling as I left the house with the new skinsuit on and porta-barriers stashed in my messenger bag. It felt SUPER good to be tooling around Monument Valley Park again. ( this would be a superb race venue ). I'm trying very hard to continue to work on form. After many, many years of this, you'd think mounts and dismounts would be hardwired into the board...not so much, in fact I manged to do a nice high speed wad-up on some slippery grass in front of about a dozen 10-12 year old soccer camp kids all of whom all had to stop their drills to see if I was going to get up off the ground. Besides that incident, I felt good. really thinking about placing the hand on the top tube earlier for barrier dismounts and stop doing the minimum 5 steps before remounting, these are bad habits that are hard to break....time is on my side though and there is always room for improvement.

and so it begins

2009-08-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to August...the alarm strikes marking weeks to go before our season starts. I've got to say I've been enjoying this clammy summer thus far, it's been wreaking havoc on our trails, but the temps are super comfy. Spending lot's of time on the fat tires, managed to get in some gravity days at Keystone and Sol Vista, spent a few hours climbing in Red Rocks and a bit of throttle twisting, Still on the to-do list is Monarch Crest and Kenosha to Breck epics before the leaves turn. Unfortunately, I've already written off a few early races, namely the Pikes Peak Supercross right in our backyard which I have mixed feelings about, one on hand I think it's one of the lamest venue's around but convenience wise, it can't be beat. I'll be enjoying a tropical island working vacation on the lovely isle of Taiwan

Notice to local crossers: Wednesday night practice sessions start on the 5th at the soccer field on the North end of Monument Valley park, see you there at 6pm

Le Tour

2009-07-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Alright, I really haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to that 3 week spectacle of drama in France ( and I don't mean drama in a good way ). but I did catch the last few stages in the Alps....and....watching this stuff is getting me FIRED UP for cross season!!!! I mean I can feel the cold air filling the nostrils, slippery wet leaves and or clumps of mud/snow, dead feet and hands and that searing pain in the lungs....so close

The Fat Tire Revolution Part 3- Racing

2009-07-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

It was at the halfway point through the Cross Country race course at the Sea Otter Classic about 10 years ago when I strayed off course. I was sitting in a group of 4, three of whom were my co-workers. We were participating in the Industry Cup portion of the race where cycling companies gather a few teams composed of 4 men, 1 women and we ride for bragging rights within the industry. I was part of our "B" team, definitely not a contender but if I could help out with gathering some points while having fun, so be it. Our group had managed to wander off into a sandy drainage before realizing that there were very few tracks in front of us and no other riders behind us. One other unfortunate employee from an unnamed company followed our folly. Within a few minutes we assessed the situation, regained our bearings and joined in to the race without any drama. Twenty of so minutes later we cruised through the finish line, content and tired, I immediately headed back to our tech truck parked in the infield looking to relax and listen to some stories from the "A" team. When I had plunked myself into a comfy camp chair, our lone straggler who had followed us into the weeds came up me, bright red in the face spewing " As a sponsor of this event I would expect you to know where the course leads !!! Thanks for getting me lost !" That was the last mountain bike race I participated in, this was not the sport I witnessed grow up. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about mountain bike racing. To me this was one of the most amusing circumstances I've ever had while racing but the sport had morphed into something that I didn't quite recognize any longer.

I blame my interest in racing on the Fat Tire Flyer, a West coast based publication dedicated to the fat tire phenomenon. The magazine was filled with a hefty calender of upcoming races and results postings. I had fooled myself into believing that I had built up the requisite skills to start thinking seriously about entering one of these things. Problem was, there was nothing to enter. As with most trends, the New England scene was barely in bloom. Inevitably, a race did pop up on our calender, the Sandhopper up on Cape Cod ,it was a time trial format on a mix of pine needles and super fine sand. My memory of this race is hazy, I finished 3rd and came home with a prize...a pair of Shimano DX flat pedals. What made an impression at this race were some pretty nifty bikes, all painted primary colors ( same all on the same frame ), the logo on the downtube read " Fat Chance" and rumor had it that Chris Chance was building the finest mountain bikes available for tackling the wet slimy root and rock infested New England trails. Next up was another time trial called Tour De Bluff in Groton, CT. I remember lots of thorny prickers, slimy muddy corners and a giant tree in the middle of the course that required portaging. I was on the podium again and took home some Suntour components.
Luckily, that same summer of 1984, the circus arrived in Wendell State Park in Western Mass, billed as the Ross Stage race. Ross bicycle company had thrown a bunch of money into sponsoring a formidable team as had Specialized and Gary Fisher. All the talent from the West would be attending. Stan and I quickly booked a dorm room at UMass in Amherst and readied ourselves for the weekend. I was stunned when I arrived, V-dub campers, tents pitched, there was a game on Ultimate Frisbee going on, campfires and bikes everywhere. Next sensation was becoming star struck, I spotted Jacquie Phelan with her goofy dropped bar, aluminum frame that resembled no other bike in existence, Joe Murray on a sweet red, black and yellow Gary Fisher, Gavin Chilcot, Dave McLaughlin sporting their bright pink Specialized Stumpumper Race bikes, Aaron Cox riding a fillet brazed Ross, the Cook brothers from Crested Butte, Chris Chance in his crew had organized a photo shoot for everyone there riding his bikes. There was not one ounce of the road scene in this group, everyone had arrived to enjoy themselves on 2 wheels in the dirt. Lot's of smiles and hairy legs. At the end of the weekend someone would be awarded the win but that was a secondary prioritization. There were 4 events held and since it was a stage race, all events were meant to be participated in. There was the hillclimb, the downhill, ( both time trial format ) observed trials and the cross country race ended the weekend. I raced the cross country wearing striped calf-high athletic socks, cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt with a cotton hoodie over it. I can't quite remember but I think I fit right in. I had also taken this sport with bait, hook, line and sinker, it was providing way too much fun to ignore.

In part 4 of my infinite part series, the evolution of bikes and off-road racing
Thanks for reading

Shotty

The Fat Tire Revolution - Part 2

2009-06-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

pour a cup of coffee and enjoy: My shiny new Univega Alpina Pro with it's 2.125 inch width tires, bear trap pedals that would shred your shins to pieces with one poorly executed bunny-hop. Big foamy grips, WIDE bars. A crazy seat post that would allow the saddle to slide fore and aft with it's own QR. I loved it but actually didn't know quite what to do with it...trail ride, yes, because that's what I've seen in photo's but what trails ? What is this thing actually capable of ? The possibilities were endless and there were no rules, no white socks and black shorts, this sport was not governed by some bureaucracy somewhere. Cut off jeans and T-shirts seemed perfectly appropriate, a pair of Nike Lava Dome hiking shoes to protect the feet. The only items left over from road riding was a set of crochet half finger gloves and my Brancale helmet which would have been worthless in a bad crash. ( could explain a lot of things ) Growing up in "rural" Connecticut the easy choice were dirt road loops around the reservoirs and we were lucky enough to have access out our backyard onto power company land. There were a multitude of trails underneath the powerlines crisscrossing all over town. There were no resources to check where the good riding trails were, every single trail was legal, no precedent had been set and boundaries needed to be pushed and then pushed a little more.

The confidence level grew exponentially, turns out the bike was far more capable than my skills. I found that I could ride down ridiculously steep slopes laden with deadfall and mud, climb up root covered slimy rocks. The bike was surefooted and a massive amount of fun, I was completely in love with floating along through a dense green tunnel, the sound of big fat knobbies rolling across dirt and the idea that we may have been the first ones down a trail on bicycles. Hikers ( at first )were far more astonished and intrigued when approached on a bike. Most couldn't fathom the possibility that a bike could navigate through some of this terrain. When you discover something this fun, it absolutely must be shared so I managed to convince my adventuresome, ski fanatic, wild Polish friend that he needed a ride. He picked up a Diamondback and became hooked immediately.

We would spend hours pouring over maps and finding out what trails might be worth exploring.
Branford Supply Ponds was our first real destination location, a huge plot of land filled with serpentine trails that seemed tailor made for bikes, fast and flowing with an occasional techy section to navigate through. Stan spent just about every winter weekend up in Vermont skiing with his family and developed a fierce passion for the place. He made the suggestion that we take the bikes to the North Country, the home of real mountains in the Northeast. We piled our bikes into the back of his Chevy Chevette and got on I-91 headed North. We landed at Killington Ski area 3 hours later, right smack dab in the middle of Vermont, got out our 15mm spanners and bolted the wheels back into the frame. By trial and error we found and connected service roads that lead to the top of the mountain. The descents were amazing, we'd pick some random ski trail that would connect back up with a service road but the down was so worth the long toil upwards. We were giggling like little schoolgirls by the time we reached bottom again, not to mention hands were cramped and numb from squeezing sub-par canti's for an hour or so. This became a bit of a habit for us one summer, every available weekend we'd make the trek North to check out and check off the biggies, Mt Snow, Stowe, Stratton, Mount Greylock in Mass. We even got in the renowned Mt Washington before bikes were outlawed on the autoroad with exception of the annual hillclimb affair. Coming down the road was an experience I hope I never forget.

Our most outlandish scheme was to ride the length of the Quinipiac Trail, a North-South route through Connecticut that started at Long Island Sound and finished at the Massachusetts border. We had it all plotted out and would ride the trail in pieces. To scope out one of the most Northerly sections we drove two cars up and left one high and backtracked to the trailhead. At the time I had a raging case of poison ivy and was covered head to toe in Calamine lotion. We fueled up at a Friendlys restaurant and left the trailhead at 2pm expecting about a 2-3 hour jaunt. We had no compass and no map, some water and perhaps a banana, I doubt either of us had a watch on. The trail was very decent, well used but a bit slow going with lot's of super steep hike-a-bike sections. The trail was easy to follow as trees were marked with a blue blaze every few hundred yards. By dusk we were falling way behind schedule and suddenly found ourselves on top of a ridgeline that had experienced a massive wind event. Tree's were laying every which way so not only were we clambering over deadfall but the trail markers were gone and it was losing daylight quickly. By dark we were thoroughly lost the trail was obliterated and couldn't be found. After "discussing" options we figured the best route out was to get off the ridge, out of the woods and find a road. Coming off the ridge was tricky, we emptied out into a soggy cornfield and tracked our way out to a dirt road which thankfully met pavement quickly. After a few more hours of getting our bearings we stumbled into our car. It was 9PM, a full seven hours later. All I could recall was exhaustion, bliss, and a full bag of chocolate chip cookies in the car that was gone in an instant.

Thanks for reading, in Part 3 the racing bug bites again

Overhaul

2009-06-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

The ride was pretty much destroyed after Paris-Roubaix day so full teardown was in order. For the most part anything that moved, rotated, shifted, etc was replaced as well as some new tape and hoods. We are still a full season away but the bike is ready.

The Fat Tire Revolution ( Part 1 )

2009-06-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Recently I visited the website of First Flight Bicycles in North Carolina, They have what I believe to be the most comprehensive in-depth information chronicling the history of the mountain bike. Scrolling through pictures had me thinking back to how I was hooked into the fray. I'm sure there are hundreds of thousands of stories like this one, but here's mine for your reading amusement:

Somehow, I missed the boat on being raised on BMX bikes, missed out on the jumping, skidding, berms, wheelies, etc. My path was a decidedly geekier route, I was obsessed with road riding. Could have something to do with the movie Breaking Away, however by the time that film was released I was well into my obsession with all things skinny and shiny. The film just added a massive fuel dump on the fire. It wasn't just me, my group of friends growing up in Jr High School were all on board with this program. Every Saturday morning we'd meet up at Guy and Susans D'Aniello's shop, Amity Bicycles in Woodbridge CT. for a weekly time trial series. We would throw everything we had at a rolling 10-something mile course, come through the line red-faced,sputtering and on the verge of tossing breakfast. Guy and Susan started this shop in their home, it was a ridiculously small amount of floor space but they catered to the serious road enthusiast, it was a fertile environment for young roadie wannabees. For such a small shop it was well stocked with encouragement, advice, enthusiasm, and of course the requisite amount of gear to lust over. The bike I chose to launch my career was a maroon Zebrakenko, a now defunct Japanese import with a decent level of mostly Suntour components. Slowly but surely each part would be replaced with Suntour Superbe Pro...because it was well ?...Pro! It was far less expensive than anything that Campy had to offer, I don't recall looking at any Shimano parts but the Superbe Pro group was meticulously finished, very lightweight and functioned beautifully. I swapped out the saddle for the Italian made Concor, started to become fashion conscience and wrapped the bars with multiple colored layers of Benotto cello tape, Alfredo Binda leather toe clip straps wound through Christophe stainless clips, every single detail was obsessed over. While I never entered a road race I stuck rigidly to the time trial regimen and also partook in a century which at that time was a pretty big deal for a 15 year old kid. During the years leading into the beginning of high school (early eighties) our posse size was dwindling, cars and girls were entering the periphery, distractions for some...not for me. I had lost the beloved Zebrakenko in a theft and acquired a used Colnago Mexico. I was riding an absurd amount but very much losing interest in racing, I had stripped the Colnago of decals and started becoming interested in more exploratory/adventure type riding. The seed planted was a bike tour that my cousin and I struck out on a trip to Cape Cod and the Islands a few years earlier, staying at Youth Hostels and packing all our belongings in panniers made by an upstart company in Connecticut called Cannondale. Then the lightening bolt hit, the bike magazines I was reading were publishing ads for bikes that looked like nothing I had ever seen before. They were equipped for what I had wanted to ride. Big fat knobby tires, "Bullmoose bars", cantilever brakes, big wide platform pedals without clips and straps! "very interesting".. In 83 I took a ride on the Colnago down to a ski shop to take a look a some sweet pair of Lange boots that I couldn't afford. When I exited the store the Colnago was gone. Despite my parents best efforts encouraging me to ride with a lock on board, it was out of the question, " too heavy...doesn't fit in the jersey pocket" etc. Once the funds were available from the loss of the bike, I was driven direct to Branford Bikes and purchased a Univega Alpina Pro mountain bike.

Thanks for reading part one of the infinate part series on why the mountain bike is the best invention of our lifetime- Shotty

More To Come

2009-06-06T07:40:00.001-07:00

Although my last final exam was taken some 20 odd years ago, there's something hardwired in me to start slacking immediately around graduation time....alas this blog has been left in the corner underneath a pile of dirty laundry and been forgotten. Fear not..I will start posting again shortly, I've been short on time and creativity lately but have been enjoying some longish days in the saddle which gives me time to think about writing...or riding..stay tuned for some fat tire nostalgia.

Thanks
shotty

Get out there

2009-05-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

the horror ! I missed Bike to Work week whilst touring around Taiwan in one of those metal, 4 wheeled toxic spewing devises. Truth be told, I don't claim to be one of the holier than thou commuters that completely shuns automated transportation, riding my four stroke dirt bike (after driving it to the trailhead ) manages to install a perma-grin that lasts for days....plus I love the sound it makes when the throttle's opened ! Perhaps I can justify my motorized recreational habits by riding my bicycle some 1,500 plus miles to work every year. It's by far the most satisfying method of transport on a daily basis.

Bike riding, but more specifically, commuting is moving meditation, commuting by car is a supreme test of patience, having to be a slave to traffic lights, being hyper aware to avoid the mistakes of others..etc etc. It's the ultimate juxtaposition by being in control of your vehicle and it's space but having extremely limited control over your ways and means of movement. Time on the bike is time taking in your surroundings and turning over the pedals. Time in the car is super focused and at the same time, distractions galore abound. One of my favorite pastimes is sitting on my bike, perhaps on the bike path waiting to cross a street and just observing drivers "driving". Most are talking on the phone, some are checking themselves out in the rearview, digging for something on the passenger side etc. Doing anything to avoid the drudgery that is commuting by car.

I've preached bicycle commuting here before, but I'll say it again, if you can make it happen and it works in your lifestyle/schedule, etc....please try to get out there!

It you're not sure where to start, start here

Pinned

2009-05-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sitting in SFO airport right now waiting for a flight to Taiwan. The past few weeks have felt as though the throttle's been stuck and feet have come off the pegs. I'm extremely thankful for some downtime spent with our friends on the western slope of Colorado. We managed to find some extremely unique accommodations in Paradox, Colorado and spent most days exploring canyons, mines, local trails and straying into Moab for a couple of day trips. I highly recommend bringing an Edward Abbey novel along with you to trips to the high desert.

The week's vacation was wrapped up with the Fruita Fat Tire Fest which made an excellent segue back into civilization. Two days after we sent our friends back to Maine, Jen's parents arrived for their annual "side trip" from Florida back to Maine. They kept themselves super busy amusing themselves with Jen's honey-do list that I tend to procrastinate on.

Now, I've got an week long Asia trip on my plate just a day after our guests departed. Already, I'm thinking that a trip back to Fruita on Memorial Day weekend is in order just to decompress from the past month. There's so much more singletrack left to explore with my name on it.

Out

2009-04-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

Friends from Maine arrive today on the tails of yet another snow "storm" , we'll spend a day or so here, perhaps head over to Red Rocks park for a hike and climb, let them get their lungs. But next week will be feet up or clipped in while in Moab then followed by Fruita Fat Tire fest. It's been almost 10 years since riding slickrock so I am almost school girl giddy with anticipation!! When we get back, Jen's folks are in town, then it's followed in quick succession to a trip to Taiwan. But first things first..some downtime! I'll try to update here but it'll probably be more pics, less words.

see you!
Shotty

Epic

2009-04-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some photo's from todays Paris-Roubaix ride. Needless to say the heavy snow drove off more than a few attendees but 6 of us mustered up the energy to head up to at least the South Gate entrance of the academy. The girls even joined in for the Paris-Roubaix Petite!!

After a long thawing out process, everyone met up back at the ranch and hung in front of the tele equipped with brats, frites, waffles and white ales while watching Tom Boonen take the 3rd Paris-Roubaix win of his career.

Forecast

2009-04-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow holds the possibility of an epic day in the saddle for those in the North of France! As for those of us here locally, we will be on the receiving end of some positively grim conditions with temps in the mid 40's and a mix of light snow and rain....it's actually snowing again this morning as I write this. Time to go prep the house for tomorrows festivus, make sure the grill is ready to go...the flag of Flanders has been hung outside....queue up Road to Roubaix which should be followed by race coverage on Versus ( as long as some lame Indy-Lite car race goes long and interrupts coverage like last weeks Rhonde van Vlaanderen )

Enjoy your Easter and the Queen of the Classics!

3 days and counting

2009-04-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

until the Queen of the Classics, the 106th running of Paris Roubaix, the finest piece of racing if there ever was one. In my mind, the race completely eclipses all the grand tours combined. It's a brutally hard fought race while riding over the worst imaginable surface, centuries old worn cobblestones that absolutely destroy men, machines, and morale. In 1997 I was working in San Jose California for Rockshox as an engineering technician. At that time the 2nd generation Boxxer DH fork was in development and I was tasked with taking a handful of prototypes over to Europe in April to go test in Northern Italy with the likes of Steve Peat, Rob Warner, the Misser brothers and Juergen Beneke. There was to be a side trip to the North of France to support the Ruby road fork at Paris-Roubaix. I had been following this race since I was a pre-pubescent roadie wanna-be reading VeloNews when it was printed on newspaper and arrived in a folded mess in my parents mailbox twice monthly. To say I was excited was an understatement. This was to be my first trip to Europe and to have witness to the greatest one day event in bike racing history was almost to much to bear.

Our tech crew stationed in Europe was the dynamic duo of Tim and Helen Flooks, the kindest and most outgoing couple I've even had the privilege to know. They lived out of a Mercedes truck had had been bisected into deluxe albeit cramped living quarters in the front with a complete workshop out the back. We set up shop at a Novatel hotel just outside of Compiegne. Most of the main players were there and our few days of work consisted of sitting around for most of the day until riders returned from the reconnaissance rides and then we would make a few tweaks here and there to their individual suspension settings in order that a minute amount of comfort and control could be afforded to the rider. To date, the Rockshox road fork had made a pretty decent impression on the pro peloton. Gilbert Duclos-Lasalle and Andre Schmill had both earned victories while riding our forks and it was pretty obvious that the weight penalty seemed worth it.

Race morning was a warm and dry bluebird day, we piled in the Flooks' home and parked in Compiegne. We had a French distributor who was our liaison with the race officials so when we arrived we were handed our entry passes into the teams paddocks. The scene was amazing,massive throngs of fans against the metal fence hoping for any kind of interaction with their favorite riders, perhaps a snapshot, an autograph or just a slap on the back and a "Bon la Chance"!! A few Postal Service riders had shown up that morning sporting a prototype full suspension bike modeled after Treks popular mountain bike the Y-Bike. The UCI officials were quick to intervene and the team was left scrambling to hurry back to the hotel to pick up a proper road machine, the full suspension contraption would not be allowed in the race.

Once the riders rolled through the square and began their odyssey, we jumped into Francois' auto and went North to watch 2 sections, one being Wallers, unfortunately we didn't have the time to head up into the Forest Of Arenberg ( next time! ). At Wallers we found a space on the grass for the car and then hiked for about 15 minutes into the section of cobbles. By then, cycling fans had arrived in earnest, some sporting matching jackets with the name of their rider emblazoned on the back and actually carrying spare wheels in the event that their hero was caught with a puncture and his team car was out of reach. A steady caravan of advertising cars and other assorted "vehicles" rolled through kicking up huge clouds of dust,those were closely followed by the local gendarmes and then we could see and hear the helicopter covering the peloton from above. The hair the back of the neck starts to stand and then all the team and officials cars come through..more dust! Out of the mess comes the first wave of riders and forces our group to take a good step backwards as the riders wheels are firmly in the soft shoulder and they're straining to find the smoothest line. In a matter of seconds it's riders, cars, horns with short stacato beeps, fans yelling, clapping, then it's over, the group has passed and we can hear ourselves again. We headed back to the car and I managed to grab a route arrow flag as a souvenir. The plan was to head back to a nearby hotel and watch the remainder of the race live on Eurosport. A rider with our forks had made his way into the final group and the group remained intact until the velodrome in Roubaix, however it was a relatively unknown rider, Frederic Guidon riding for Francais de Jeux who outsprinted the group and for the win. For a cycling uber-geek like myself, witnessing this event was one of the highlights of my life and deepened my obsession with Paris-Roubaix. Hence, Paris Roubaix Day in only 3 days and the weather here on the front range looks positively....poor! Very much like it should be for PR day

Really?

2009-04-01T17:14:00.001-07:00

April 1. A cruel joke indeed...it's literally snowing sideways right now....hard! We're enjoying backwards Spring this year, where it begins with sunny warm temps in the 70's and ends with a week of the most snowfall we've seen all winter. I've had to drag out the booties, skull cap, and lobster mitts for every ride this week. Monday morning had me fishing around the basement for some snap-on fenders. Definately caught unprepared.

Flanders this weekend, then on the 12th. , the 3rd Annual Paris-Roubaix Day, held right here.

On another note, my little 6 month blog has been visited 500 times as of today..so, thanks Mom !!Stay tuned and stay warm!

Shotty

Words

2009-03-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Reading online content usually lasts me less than 15 minutes of perusing through an article/interview, whatever before either a) it really grabs my attention and I send it to the printer or b) A.D.D. sets in and I move on. If I really want to get my head around something and actually absorb it, it has to be in printed form. I heard a news story on the radio of how universities and colleges are making text books available on-line only as a means of saving some money for students which makes sense, however I would suffer horribly in this type of environment. In more cases than not, online content has a sidebar with some advertisement which is constantly luring your attention away from the purpose of why you visited the site in the first place. I don't mean to sound like a Luddite and go off on a Ted Kazinsky rant and list 10 reasons why the typewriter should be resurrected....but I really appreciate the tactile feel of a good book or magazine in my hands. Which brings me to Bike Monkey.... a regional NorCal magazine I found laying about our office a few weeks back. It's such an excellent publication, very well written stories and a nice complete package with photography and art that is extremely pleasing to the eye. I would encourage you to go hunt down something in print and keep it around the house for a good long time whether it's a magazine kept in the bathroom or a novel on the bookshelf .Happy reading and thanks for visiting this site...just don't spend too much time here!

Shotty

Spring

2009-03-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I was a strictly a lover of Summer and Winter. Summer was sans school, time filled with some random job that didn't require any real type of thought, ambition or responsibility. Activities included but not limited to: bike rides to the nearest (or farthest) ice cream place, fishing in the local cities water supply, riding that razor thin fine line between having a really good time and not getting into trouble. Winter was all about potential. If all the correct pieces fell into place then any type of terrain became an opportunity for building snow caves, toboggan jumps, trips up North to VT. to visit real mountains. Just pure bliss. Spring and Fall ? well, in Southern New England, those seasons were just spent...waiting. Waiting for the mud to dry up and the mosquitoes to die off or waiting for the first snow flakes.

These days, it's the "tween" seasons I'm growing to appreciate, especially here in Colorado. Spring and Fall creates the possibility of melding all favorite activities. This past weekend proved just that. Saturday with temperatures rising rapidly into short sleeve and shorts territory, five of us from work decided that an LSD ride was in order. Long Slow Distance for the uninitiated. We gathered mid morning on a mix of cyclocross bikes and skinny tired contraptions and headed North to Palmer Lake. Depending on your starting point, it's about a 50-60 mile jaunt along the Front Range path that runs North to South. This ride marked my maiden voyage of the Independent Fabrication Planet Cross pictured above. I had taken a few rides back and forth to work just to sort out the functional bits but those rides don't count. I picked up this frame with the intention of using it strictly for rides like this, figuring the weight penalty was too much to bear for that of a race bike. The more I ride this bike, the more it's proving me way wrong. It's doesn't ride like it's a pound and a half heavier than the Jamis. it's extremely lively and surefooted. The geometry is spot on and inspires confidence which is what I hope for when swinging a leg over a new bike. I'm sure that it'll be brought into service come Fall. Needless to say...I am a huge fan.
I woke up Sunday and got online to check weather, it looked as though another repeat of perfect was in store. More front range options abound but Jen and I figured we'd load up the Element and head for the hills for a day on the slopes. We were met with sparse crowds, abundant sunshine, superb snow conditions and smiles everywhere....yes, I'm getting soft, I don't crave mid January days when I'm stuffing those little heating packets into the toe box of the boot in order to revise some piddly amount of blood flow to the nether regions of the feet. Bring me Spring!! Thanks for reading, the calender is filling rapidly so I'll try to update here as often as possible
Shotty

Balance

2009-03-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

It's March ? for real ? No weather system that has passed through our burg has resembled anything like winter. Not the winter I grew up with anyway...."why, I walked 5 miles each way to the bus stop through waist deep"......but I digress. Perhaps we've swept a nice light, bone dry couple of inches of the white stuff off our sidewalk no more than few times since the solstice. It's so tempting to keep riding, which I've been doing by commuting faithfully and partaking in a handful of lunch break races in Ute Valley Park. The "problem" is I love snow and relish some downtime off the bike to mentally recharge the batteries and change up the game a tad.

This winter has made it soooo easy to clamp on to the out of sight, out of mind mentality and just grab a bike and take in some trail rides vs. a trek to Summit county. The scenario I'd like to avoid is the arrival of Spring and sensing immediate pangs of regret by not snowshoeing, nordic skiing, making snow angels....etc, etc. So we did force ourselves to load up and head for the hills last weekend spending a few days playing with gravity at Keystone and it was all that and more. I grow very tired of the local "natives" returning a quizzical blank stare back to me when I've just told them I just came back from the mountains despite the fact that it hasn't dumped in the last 36 hours. Trust me, the worst ski day in Colorado and still better than most of the best days back East. I've paid good money to sit on a chairlift in the pouring rain back there and don't ever wish to repeat that scene. Be grateful for what your are served, that's the lesson I took with from the East. So, yes the snow at Keystone was not very fresh, but it was white and very very fast and the views didn't suck either.

Apologies for not updating here for the past few weeks...I've got heaps of excuses, work is getting in the way, watching the TOC, skiing on the weekend. Other interesting tidbits of news. I am in the process of building up a beautiful Independent Fabrication Planet Cross steel frame. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this is will be the forth IF I've owned. Thankfully the geometry matches up ridiculously close to the Jamis so will use this primarily as a dirt road bike which is completely necessary in the quiver here and will definitely use it on some super rough courses ( yes, Louisville Rec Center....I'm looking at you ). Also, all around super nice person and former World Champ mountain biker/Colorado Springs resident Alison Dunlap will be returning to the cyclocross scene this fall. We're almost blushing with the stable of cross talent down here ( Gully, KFC, and Alison )

Thanks for reading!
Shotty

HUGE

2009-02-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

Time to go find your big boy pants. This September, the folks who put on the Breck Epic will be hosting the cyclocross version:

"Crossifixion", fall 2009. Couldn't get it together for this year, but plan on 50+ miles of backcountry cyclocross riding in mid-September (most of it while swearing like a trucker with Tourette's Syndrome.)If you guys are wondering what TN is talking about, do a quick search on "3 Peaks Cyclocross".Coming soon to a national forest near you.
MM

Hmmm.....mid-September, could be post holing through waist deep drifts or enjoying an unseasonably mild blue bird day. There's only one way to find out......( yikes )

the dirt

2009-02-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

I couldn't get out of my own way yesterday morning so when I finally formulated a plan to get out of the house I didn't bother trying to ring anyone else for a trip down to Pueblo. It was already approaching mid-day and I figured I had already missed the boat. That was fine, I do seek out solo rides on occasion for many reasons but mostly for simplicity's sake. Little did I know is that a few couples and some other friends from work had the same idea. Without any prior communication between the six of us we all managed to meet up on the trail. The trails around Pueblo Rez are made by riders, for riders. There is not much is the way of vertical but the riding is very unique to our portion of the front range. Loads of very swoopy, turny singletrack sprinkled with some drops and g-outs to keep you on your toes. A few exposure sections along the water. We had a fantastic ride, the temps were ideal and the ride was a nice mix for me with some solo time and some fun group ride dynamics. If you head down there's plenty of terrain to keep you busy for 2 to 3 hours, bring your cornering skills and a few tubes. Enjoy

Shotty

The Greatest Show on Earth

2009-02-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Reveling in the magic of the Intraweb, I spent my 2 hours today glued to computer watching the Worlds unfold. Some mighty fine racing and the raucous crowds just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up straight!! A little bummed to see Compton take third, it was frustrating to watch Marianne Vos get towed around the course by Kupfernagel and Compton just to come around in the last few hundred meters for the win. I realize that she had no reason to take a pull with her countryperson in the next group back but there were some more deserving riders for the stripes in the field. ( my humble opinion )

As for the men, an awesome ride for Albert, it was fun watching the Belgium mafia working the front of the race. I'm glad to see Nys in third and that Lars Boom couldn't manage to harness the power of the NorEuro Mullet to his advantage. Props to Jeremy Powers placing 35th for the top placing American.

One of these years, I'm heading over for a full cross submersion experience....who's in?!!!

Thanks for reading
Shotty

The real game

2009-01-31T08:28:00.000-08:00

I guess there's some game on Sunday but the real action will be held this weekend in the Hoogerheide when the Worlds go down. There's a palpable amount of excitement here in Colorado (especially in our little burg on the front range ) as there's a good chance that the Spring's own Katie Compton rolls away with the rainbow jersey. Go here for a webcast of the event. We'll be watching!!!

Post Script: Good article/interview with KFC on Cycling News

shopping or dreaming ?

2009-01-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

We have an understanding in this household that when it comes to bikes, it's best that if a new one arrives then one must go. This is somewhat self imposed when the quiver got a little out of control a few years back. I had a grand vision of a private collection of vintage mountain bikes. We had a big 'ol barn in Maine and I did my best to fill it to the brim with a decent collection of all things rare,crusty and old. We had made a conscience decision to downsize drastically when moving out West in order to live the "simple" life. The choice was made to liquidate the stash. ( I still have a couple of keepers in the basement that I will NEVER part with ) but for the most part I try to live by this rule.

As of late, I am craving a steel cross frame. My current ride, the Jamis Supernova is a rocket, there's no getting around that, it's sitting at a very respectable 17.2 lbs and fits me nicely. The picks to nit are the finish details on this bike. A piece of tape to pretty up the juncture between the carbon and Aluminum...not so cool, eyelets for racks and fenders, on a race bike ? Lame. They flattened the top tube in the exact wrong position, which has been corrected on the 08 bikes. But still, I miss the ride of steel, all buttery and soft, there are no shortages of rough, choppy courses here on the front range and I think I could deal with a little more weight for a softer ride.

My first cross bike was a neon yellow steel Pinarello with a wicked short top tube and crazy high bottom bracket, we never quite hit it off and we soon parted. As my interest in jumping into a race started, I contacted a long time friend from back East, Christopher Igleheart, who was residing up in Portland, OR at the time. Chris had spent years at Fat City Cycles in Somerville, Mass. and was responsible for many of the unique boxed crown forks that were a signature look on many of the high end dirt bikes and also featured on the Slim Chance road frames. He built me up a super nice frame from Reynolds 853 tubing and even laid down a bead with my initials on the BB cup. The Igleheart lasted me years with the only downside being the frame was a little too road oriented, it had a limited amount of clearance for mud and the standover clearance was nill. Next up was an Independent Fabrication Planet X. This frame was a dream, superb handling skills, beautiful construction and attention to detail. At the time I think this was the frame that all others were measured against. I parted ways with this frame a few years back when it became evident that it was looking a bit tired with it's 1" headtube and matching steel fork, a victim of the steady advance of technology.

I held a position with Raleigh bicycles as a rep for the Northeast and being a company man, I spent some time on a Raleigh bike designed by Tim Rutledge who was a legendary crosser from the Northwest and responsible for designing the Redline bikes. This is where I came accustomed to the feel of a lightweight Aluminum rig with a little bit of cush offered up by the carbon stays in the rear. My next hairbrained scheme was to run disc brakes for a season on a Lemond Poprad, the added control and power that discs offered was impressive but a massive weight penalty with a bike that weighed in at 22lbs !

So as I stand here today, I'm not really sure what path to take. I'm definitely thinking long and hard about some steel from Boston again. I'm not a fan of a full Aluminum/Scandium rig, I just can't get around the look of a big 'ol chunk of CNC chainstay yoke sticking off the back of the BB shell, my back hurts just looking at it. Carbon sure is light and ride quality is buttery but longevity ? I don't want something I need to throw away after 2 seasons. Maybe I'll just keep the Jamis.....I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Thanks for reading, Worlds is next weekend!!!

shotty