Bourbon and Night Time Cold Medicine

The last few weeks have really been a blur as work has ramped up considerably. Just got back from a business trip to Denver and caught the proverbial travel cold. I even went heavy on the Emergen-C and Airborne to no avail. D-Town travel is no big deal, was just very busy from early morn till late night every day working my arse off. So now I am fighting the head and chest cold running on no sleep and just pounded a bourbon and a couple of night time cold capsules, night night kB. It has seemed like I've been fighting something for several weeks, never realy sick, but not feeling 100 percent, well not even 80 percent. Better to get sick and get it over with, rather than have it linger.

Last week we finally got our new kits so were able to don them at the Kansas State Championship. Several of the team riders had good performances like Larry, Dave, Mat, and Joe. I completely faded, after a nice start in the 1/2/3 race. The course was pretty fun, had more climbing than it looked, and a cool cobbled section. The University of Saint Mary was a new venue for cross and sits up on a hill littered with older brick buildings.

Now its rest and recovery time to get ready for Jingle cross next weekend. Jingle cross has been a tradition for the last few years, so planning to head up there after turkey day. Timmy Johnson and the Wells brothers will both be on the scene, so should be a sick weekend.

Joe the Plumber - Wall Ride

Joe must have been looking for his plunger after he clogged up the pipes on this wall ride attempt.... the onlookers were totally confused.

Once our plumber friend got his chamois changed, he took some vid of guys cleaning the run-up/ride-up.

Smithville CX Festival - Wicked Windy

Wow, what a great weekend of racing. Thanks to Chris, Heather, and all the rest who made this event happen. Sunday's race was the most fun I've had all cyclocross season. It wasn't epic conditions, massive fields, or an incredibly difficult course.... it was just real Racing. The course had a nice road start into a flowy tree section with some slick corners. Then over to my favorite part which was another flowy up down side to side grassy section that was super fun. Then down toward the lake where the WIND unleashed on everybody. It had to be 30mph winds on Sunday that seemed to pickup thru the day. The big crowd pleaser was the Wall runup followed by the money tree.



Day 1 - - - Got a great start and hung in with the uber fast guys for the first couple of laps. That was all great, until I started to fade. That pace was just a little too much for me, and I started getting passed by a few guys on the 2nd/3rd laps. I then glued myself to Studnicki's wheel for about half the race. A few too many gaps and closing said gaps left me out in the wind. Marshall was closing in on me and next thing I know he's way back due to a stop in the pits for a wheel change. I was out of the money so I starting picked dollars off the tree and ended up with a fat $3, a pocket of leaves, and a couple clothespins. Cameron and a few others were riding the Wall with good success.

Day2 - - - 10 degrees cooler, a lot windier, and a similar course with a few reversed/rerouted sections to mix things up. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel after Day1, but I was going to take a different approach. Going for it on the start worked me over on Satuday, so I was going to play it a little slower off the start and work my way up from there. The start went well and was rolling around 5th wheel or so for the first lap. Shadd and Cameron rolled away and Shriner was sitting 3rd with me close behind. Through the whoops section, something happened with my drivetrain as I tried to pedal and it felt like I had no chain, just resistance-less spinning. Keep trying, looking down, but nothing. I jumped off right at the pits, gave it a good spin and it was back on I got rolling trying to bridge back to Shad. I run a double guard single ring, so no idea what happened there. Within the next 2 laps, my group formed. This made the race for me and really had a blast. Shad Shriner, Mark Studnicki, Bill Marshall and I settled in together and the racing started. The group swapped pulls, attacks, surges and made for a lot of fun. With 2 to go, Bill got gapped in the tree section and the pace quickened to hold it. A solid surge on the blacktop section and Studnicki was off, so it was Shad and I fighting for 3rd. Shad then got a gap that I could never close down and I ended up 4th. It was tons of fun out there today getting windburned and my legs torched. Cameron took the W on a borrowed bike, way to go. Same bike as I have and he loved the carbon.... hmmm.


Check out the cool video from mruder

Diamond BlackFan CX Challenge

Hot Hot Hot!! This was the first race of the season in the Kansas City area and kicks of the De Stad Cyclocross van Kansas series.

The early racers dealt with a dew laden course, slick corners, and lots of encounters with the ground. This was apparent by all the grass and dirt stains on the kits as well as a few bloodied knees and elbows. As the day wore on and the course burned in, the temps climbed into the upper 80's, but felt like 100. The course wound its way through the Sar Ko Par park in Lenexa, KS and kept riders on their toes as they accelerated out of and braked into the numerous turns. Bike handling and riding smooth through the corners was key on this course. There were two sets of double barriers and a lengthy sandpit run forcing riders to dismount.

Being a glutton for punishment I've been planning on doubling up on the races during the beginning of the season. My first race of the day was the Masters and of course and I started from the back row. Not a great start as many peeps were faltering in their pedals but made a quick punch up the pavement and moved up 10 spots or so. Two laps pass by and I've moved up through the field. The next few guys were the usual Masters ringers... Hejduk, Songer, Winker, Dunsmuir, and Tige. I get up to the group and let Scott know I'm on and recover for a minute. Winkler has already rolled off the front and not gonna chase him. Songer went down in a corner, so it was time to go. I got on the front and Scott and I traded off until we popped the other two. We rolled in togther to take 2nd and 3rd. 40 minute race.

20 minutes later... 1/2/3's lining up. I lined up on the back row with Shadd and go! Much faster than the Masters and I was just trying to get up in good position and settle in. Not even halfway into the first lap Tom and Camerom got tangled up and went down right in front of me in a corner. I swung out and missed the pile up and started working my up. I'd really gotten the lines down in the first race so was able to capitalize on that and not work so hard out of all the corners. The pace was hot in that first lap and I hung in with the main group as we made our way around the course, making up a spot or two. The day had really heated up and was starting to take a toll. I was so thirsty and needed a drink bigtime. People were starting to fade back so had moved up into the top10. About 45 minutes in and my stomach was growling, crap that is not a good sign... the tank is going empty. 50 minutes and 3 laps to go and I started cracking. Then the passing started. Each time through the sand was tough and felt like 1000 degrees. Ended up in 17th place after 1 hour 12 minutes. Nearly two hours of racing and I can't wait for cooler weather.