In Honor...

...of RR&M's 500th hit.  Keep showing the support, kiddos!













Gameday!  KSU in Snyder-ville taking on Tennessee Tech...gawd we need a win before we start into Big 12 play.  GO STATE!

The Snowstorm Subsides

Well, you can take me off suicide watch, because the snow has moved on through, and looks like the mountains are being granted a reprieve with a couple more weeks of "spautumn".  Wednesday evening was a little chilly, but the recent moisture made the local mountain bike trails mmmmm tasty.

That evening treated me with good ol' faithful - a  ride up the Boneyard, stopped for the views at the top, and back down Redneck Ridge.  A seven-plus-mile singletrack loop, starting and finishing at my garage.  Trails around Eagle are in phenomenal shape right now - git sum!

Here's a couple of pics for your enjoyment - a beautiful sunset, and the pink hue of the sunset bouncing off the freshly deposited snow on the New York range.

This weekend will be 'cross race #2 of the season for me this year - Cross at the River in Buena Vista, CO.  Looking forward to it, and building on that 9th place finish from last week.

As with any trip to BV, gonna hit up K's on the way out - some of the best burgers and shakes around.

It also means that it will be the official debut of the TeamDRV skinsuit.  Eff yeah!

Looking to be a gorgeous weekend.  I'm gonna go get my bikes ready.

GO RIDE!

CrossVegas, Baby!

Local Jake Wells (Mafia Racing) THREW DOWN at CrossVegas earlier this week, posting a 12th place finish in a field of 114 deep in the UCI C1 race, only 1:15 off the pace after an hour of 'crossing.  Way to go, Jake!  Here's a pic of the dude sayin' "What's up?" to Barry Wicks (Kona) and Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain/Maxxis).

Another one of the local bro's, Larry Grossman (or Elgee, from Squirt Lube & Addicted to Bicycles fame), posted a fantastic 5th place finish amongst distributors in the "Wheelers & Dealers" race beforehand.

Are You #$%*!&^ Kidding Me!?!

September 21, 2009.

Last "official" day of summer.

First "unofficial" day of winter.

Not funny.

Snow accumulated down to 10,000 feet or below, with it actively precipitating snow as low as 6,500 feet today.  I like the mountains, but 8 months with snow is starting to get a little oppressive.

We were discussing at work the seasons in Colorado:  Winter, and Not Winter.  Or as someone called it, "Spautumn".

Please don't tell me its time for down parkas, fireplaces and sweatpants already.  Where is my fleece-lined skinsuit already?

On a lighter note, my homeowner's association board, of which I am a part of, made me take down my enormous installation of one string of Christmas lights, which I had lazily left up since last Christmas.  Comical, because no one noticed until two weeks ago (when I received the notice that I would be fined if they weren't removed), the person who noticed is a "code enforcement official" the HOA hires to literally walk around and find instances of people breaking the rules and regulations (note: doesn't live here), and besides, they're going right back up in 8 weeks.  Which begs the question:  Who really gives a shit about 50 little bulbs that haven't been turned on since last January?  Besides, it's winter now!

Remember When You Were 5 Years Old...

...and you got to go play in the mud?

Sunday marked the day of the first official cyclocross race of the season (for me, at least) - Brecktobercross.  A 'cross race at 9900 feet.  Always a good time.  And the weather is usually beautiful...until this year.

Let's say the weather took a turn for the worse as soon as we (wife Erin and I) pulled into the parking lot.  What was sunny skies and 60F earlier in the day turned to 43F and rain.  Then sheets of rain.  Then some sleet/hail/ice/who knows.  Then a light sprinkle.  Then more steady rain.

Course was typical Brecktobercross fare:

• a long straight covered in wood chips right out of the gate
• some quasi-techy pavement
• a slippery dirt section with barrier #1 and a run-up
• another uphill pavement section
• some winding trail through trees with barrier #2 and a run-up
• fast winding trail through trees
  
• a 180 hairpin with barrier #3 immediately following
• a burst climb, downhill through tunnel, and burst climb out
• long straight covered in wood chips
• lap-through (back to first wood chip straight)

The rain turned everything to mud.  In the trees it stayed a little drier (clumpy mud), but the run-ups were super slimy, and the exposed areas were nice and splattery.  Rooty sections were downright treacherous.  Corners were all greasy, and were getting worse throughout the race.  Our Cat 4 group did 6 laps in 45 minutes, which was the same pace the Cat 3 guys were rolling at.

Race Recap:  Pretty simple, really.  Terrible start, fell back to around 27th out of 35, and spent the entire race playing catchup.  It was a tight starting area (only about 4 wide), so those that had the call-up were definitely at an advantage.  I didn't get a great position in the starting gate, probably 2/3 of the way back.  The official says 3 minutes to start, we're all chatting, then all of a sudden "GO!"  WTF?  Didn't get any sort of a countdown or 30 second or 15 second warning.  So, caught by surprise and spit out the back.  Many of the straights were single-file, so you had to pick and choose your spots smartly.  The mud also didn't allow you to come into corners hot for a pass, at least not if you wanted to stay upright.  The technique practice I've put in recently helped significantly, as I had zero problems with bike handling, dismounting/remounting, etc.  Had some issues with muddy cleats that cost me probably 15 seconds throughout the race.  In fact, I passed a number of people on the first two laps on the run-ups.  I think I've got a lot more power this year, too, as I was passing/pulling away on all the burst climbs.  Worked my way back through the field to a 9th place finish, with a pretty big gap back to 10th.  So, all in all, a stellar race for me.  Honestly, I just wanted to stay upright and finish at the start of the day.

Let the videos buffer - they're a little big...(my bad)

Burst climb out of the tunnel at the end of the lap:


Erin did a great job snapping pictures, taking some vij, and cheering me on in the rain.  Actually, there were a large number of spectators for a Cat 4 race in the rain and mud.  Great racing, nobody went uber-aggro, and we all had a frickin' BLAST in the mud.  My washing machine, on the other hand...

U-Turn on the pave, hopping into some sloppy mud:

Rain, rain, go away...

Had a great morning, got the car washed and touch-up paint onto the mountain bike and 'cross bike.  Ready for Brecktobercross tomorrow.  Got a good strategy for the first cross race of the year - just finish.  Unfortunately, it's raining right now, so I figured a little blog-dropping was in order.

Spent all afternoon Friday at the Mountain Pedaler, dismantling the rear swingarm of my mountain bike to work on the rear shock.  The weatherproof wiper on the shock cylinder came out during the XC race at Breckenridge last week, and just now getting around to fixing it...for the fifth time since I bought the bike.  The Specialized Epic has very polarizing pros and cons to it:

Pros:

• Very svelte for aluminum full-suspension frame
• Classic race bike look
• Downright quick for full-suspension - IMO, the first real and "gold standard" XC race-worthy full-suspension bike
• Specialized "Brain" (mine has the Brain Fade) keeps the bike hardtail firm until you NEED the suspension
  
• Has stood up very well for three full race seasons on it

Cons:

• Suspension design puts the rear shock along side the rear swingarm, and right in the splatter from your rear wheel
• Dust wiper has a tendency to come out of the shock body
• Aluminum nut used to secure the linkage bolt is susceptible to damage (i.e. taking it off with a crescent wrench is doing a good job of rounding the corners off)
  

I feel the pros outweigh the cons, but the cons are a serious pain in the ass when they come about.  The good news - on current Epic models, Specialized moved the shock to under the top tube to (a) get the shock out of the muck and (b) eliminate the eccentricity of the shock forces.  AND they're making the Epic in a 29er version for 2010...which is the front-runner in my "Eric Needs A New Bike For 2010 Sweepstakes".  Others in the mix - the Kona Hei Hei 2-9, Gary Fisher HiFi Pro 29, and Intense Spider 29.

Oh yeah - gameday.  KSU versus UCLA.  GO CATS!

Series Champion

All the points have been tabulated, and I managed to put together a good enough season in the Mountain States Cup to take the overall Series Championship in Cat 2 / 19-29.

Cat 1 - here we come.  Upgrade request going in this week.

2009 Results:
MSC #1 - Rabbit Valley Rampage XC (Fruita, CO) - 5th
MSC #2 - Chalk Creek Stampede XC (Nathrop, CO) - 3rd
MSC #4 - Wildflower Rush XC (Crested Butte, CO) - 4th
MSC #5 - Blast The Mass XC / CO State XC Champs (Snowmass Village, CO) - 6th
MSC #6 - Copper Cup STXC / CO State STXC Champs (Copper Mountain, CO) - 3rd
MSC #6 - Copper Cup XC - 1st
MSC #8 - Fall Classic Circuit/STXC (Breckenridge, CO) - 1st
MSC #8 - Fall Classic Hill Climb/TT - 1st
MSC #8 - Fall Classic XC - 1st
MSC #8 - Fall Classic Overall/GC - 1st

USAC MTB National Championships (Sol Vista, CO) - 6th