My old team mate and friend Matt Opperman on the run up

My buddy Jeff Wardell on the icy run-up

Brandon' success in securing the win in his age group race was a definite highlight of the week in Kansas. Here he is pulling away from Mark McCormack in the final bit of the course..... Makes me wonder if some of the confusion there at the end was due to my excessivly exuberant cheering.... oh well, later McCormack...

Well, what can I say... it's always fun to have an ice-biking celebration every once a lifetime. It was kind of like Wednesday Boulder practice in ze winter with a ton of people. Sort of fun, despite the cold weather and danger of it all. I am not really an ice dancer on my cross bike, unfortunately. Not really my day to shine. Although, I have to say I enjoyed trying, and learning how to ride over the ruts a bit. I grew up as a weinie courier, remember, and technical mtn biking maneuvers are rare and unique in my days, still. Every time I got up any speed, I would start to fall over, or shoot off the course. Such a lame-o at that, I know. Oh well, on with the future. I was really disappointed with my 18th place in my age group. I can ride better than that. I got in really late the night before, was sick, and really enjoyed the ride. That was the salvaging grace of the week, there. The mud is really fun. And the spikes on my new shoes were just the right thing for long runs in the mud. Anyways, that was that. And now I'm really sick. I've been getting sicker since last week. I hope this is the worst of it. It's like being on the verge of bronchitus, but not having the cough part of it. Of course, my jeep broke down again, yesterday, and it is in the shop for the second time in less than a week. So I had a nice ride back from xmas shopping and dropping off the jeep. I really enjoyed the fresh air, and it all felt so relaxing. This season has been so long. It's the first time in quite a while I feel like I don't have a race in the immediate future. Not that I'm ready to get fat and slob around (although I did break out the vegan donuts last week), but it's so necessary to chill a bit for me right now, and give myself a chance to get well and re-energize. I'm going to try out skate skiing this winter, and break out the snowboard for a bit. I kind of want to check out the X games in January, because I've never seen anything like that live. I'm sure I'll break out the trainer before too long. But this Thursday I'm off to DC to see my brother, his cute 1 yr old twins and wife, and my parents for a week. I'm leaving my bike here. I will miss bike, though. The endless quest, the pushing on after a long summer, the new sram brakes and small frame design. It's hard not to love. Anyways, checking out. I'll be sure to keep blogging about random things that happen to me....

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My cross bike keeps following me around. It trailed me to Portland, and coerced me to ride through the muddy, slippery, earth that was deemed a race course by some. It then followed along to the snowy race, today... that was somehow referred to as a State Championship. It was rather icy for me. I wish I had a few spare arms and knees and stuff... and I'd throw myself into the corners and up the slick berms with wilder abandon. Maybe at Nationals I'll be in the mood for it. I have a mild cold from practicing riding in the snow, yesterday. I think I sprained my finger, and learned a whole lot about how I balance. I somehow can't hit an icy corner without almost falling on my derier. I don't know if I've always been this way. Something more to practice, in any event. Not my ideal conditions, obviously. Apparently, it would help if I wanted to ride through the corners more. AArgh.. But I want to. So, I took some pictures and got to spend some time on a swing and climbing to the top of a jungle gym slide to get the shots. I didn't have the nerve to go down the slide (oh, haha., and you would?!), but I'll save that for another day. Perhaps I'll work on some self portraits there on the slide by my house if I get bored this winter during a snowstorm. I definitely will some day spend some time working on my riding in harder conditions like mud and snow/ice. Anyways, it's hard juggling the working/ riding thingie. My cross bike becomes too human to me, I guess. If it's following me around so much, why wouldn't it understand? Or why wouldn't it push me out the door when the weather is bad to go for a ride more often? Maybe I'll just have to live with that duality. Anyways, here are some cool pictures from the race. My kickin cool coach/ buddy, Ben.... My team mate, Justin T., Me, and a shot from the pre-finishing stretch of the Pro Men's race.

Well, the weather has finally gotten cold and snowy. Always, around Thanksgiving, it snows each year, here. I wish, though there could've been a few more weeks of sunshine and warmth. My trainer has been my spot for the past week. Today I put in an hour and a half of easy riding while listening to the radio play Christmas music and other stuff. I'm kind of in the mood for Christmas, recently. Certainatly, to go home and see my brother who will be in DC, too, in a few weeks. I haven't seen him for about a year, and it's hard to be so far away. Thanksgiving was a great time to catch up on sleep and to catch my breath. I didn't end up doing much, which is what I completely needed. I raced on Saturday at the Boulder Cross race in Louisville. It is just a few minutes away from my house. I love the course there. There's a steep descent that leads into a great run up, a killer downhill switchback, and a nice sand pit. It's a great mtn biking type course, with a really bumpy climb. It's a good one for people like me who like the bumps, and feel the terrain push them on, somehow. I got off to a tough start. There was mud in my peddle, and I had trouble clipping in, for one thing. For another, the start headed into a sandpit that created complete chaos. I, of course, was one who was forced off my bike due to circumstances outside of my control. I did a fair amount of passing people, before I settled in to my pace for the race. I was actually lapped, at the end by Kerry and Amy. I didn't really expect that. The course was a bit muddy. I've been lapped there before, so it didn't kill me completely. It wasn't that big a loop. Thankfully, Heather Irminger didn't get me. Salvaging some self-respect!... I contemplated using my new spikes on my shoes. They are pretty long, and I decided against them because, 1. they are on my new shoes and 2. they are super-long and make clipping in difficult. I am into the idea of using smaller spikes in the future, though. I had a good ride. I felt really good. I am still waiting for the results, as I do not know how I did, exactly. There's nothing like a good, muddy, cross race. I can't wait till the Portland USGP races!

This past weekend was pretty restful for me. I really felt like I needed a break, and stayed home rather than go to the USGP in NJ. The local Red Rocks race on Saturday was cancelled, so I just slept in and went for a ride up 4-mile Canyon with OAer Tim Barns. It was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that my wheel was wobbling about, and we stopped to fix a flat for a kid who was probably around 10 yrs old, and said he was a roadie, who's gettin' into cross. Too cute. Sunday I picked up Justin T. early, and we drove down to the Springs for the cross race, there. The course was really long. Nothing really too technically demanding. The sun was shining. I was feeling kind tired, and ended up keeping up for the first part of the race with Ann Lenan and Lauren, but dropped back towards the end of the race. Laura K. and Heather had jumped off the front, and were apparently about a minute ahead of the rest of us. Heather said she dropped Laura on the climb for the win. Basically the course had some technical switchbacks, berms, barriers, and then did a little dirt criterium # before some more technical dirt riding. It was fun. The descent somewhat sandy, and twisty. I felt good overall, for the most part. Mostly 'till there were two laps to go. I think I ended up 8th, but haven't yet looked at the results. I watched Justin's race while it got cold. Colby Pierce dropped JHK who was having a chain problem. Justin put in a really good effort. There were only 14 guys there, but it was also fast. Snow is predicted here, tonight and tomorrow. I am off work for the rest of the week! Yippie! I plan to motivate tomorrow, and get some food for Thanksgiving. I promised my neighbor, I'd make him vegan pumpkin pie, as he is a vegitarian retired pro bike racer.....currently a barefoot marathon runner, and made me vegan brownies not long ago. I have been eating a lot of oatmeal with fresh fruit and maple syrup. It's so good, and the kind of oatmeal I get has Omega-3s in it... hemp plus with flax! Omega 3s are used to treat chronic fatigue disorder. Not that I have that, but in my head, I think Omega 3s are good for you like that, and will help me recover faster, and be more energetic. It couldn't hurt, anyways.