The Grand Illusion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anomaly

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....

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

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