I've moved to Denver!

IL State CX Championships

I returned to Chicago after spending time with the family to do one last training ride with Newt.  I thought I was fine, only to find out later (after Sunday's race) that he noticed I didn't have my normal "snap".  I did next to nothing on Sat to rest up for Sun.  Cold, snow, not much wind on Sun.  Good.  I did a practice lap and found the course to my liking (lots of dismounts).  While talking to Newt about his insanely good snow riding ability combined with his equally insanely bad luck at State Championships, (flat tire and broken shoe) one of the Cuttin' Crew Chicks broke her seatpost clamp.  For some reason, (long story) I happened to have an extra post with saddle attached and ran it over to her.  OK, now I have good luck for a good deed, and guaranteed cheering.  To the race:

I had achieved a top ten ranking by this point, so I received a call up.  My start was perfect.  It was near effortless and I took it to the hill.  I suck at hills.  I don't know why, but when ever "it is required that my body goes up in elevation" I go slow.  My legs started to burn a bit at that point, but only lost a few places.  I was in the mix with Aspen and Hemme.  I was content to stay there since we have raced fairly equally this fall.  Somehow though, I couldn't hold it.  I don't know what was going on.  I don't think I crashed enough.  I wasn't pushing my traction to the limit on every corner or something.  My legs definitely were not working properly.  They dropped me and I had no answer.  I needed to get pissed, to let my anger strength get me back in to the race, but it wasn't there.  When I saw 9 laps to go, I DEEPLY regretted upgrading.  As the race progressed, I found my motivation being to keep from being lapped (bad), which wound happening anyway (worse).  I did a bonus lap because I was pissed (finally) at myself for a poor performance.  After the race I changed and enjoyed the rest of the cold day.  It was very entertaining to see a tandem bike from the attempt the 4b race.  I lightly heckled the official for pulling them off the course.  What gives?  They were behind everybody, and  the entertainment value alone should give the officials reason to look the other way.  This is what makes cyclocross so fun.  It's not a road race!  In cross, you can eat a hotdog, wash it down with a beer, and get a $1 tip for doing it all in one lap!  Anyway, enough with my ranting.  I have to figure out next season since it won't be in New Zealand, and probably won't be in Chicago either.  My lack of employment this fall helped my training until the last two races, but it's time to find a race (possibly Ironman Brazil) to make use of my "fall base".

Thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving, Newt and I traveled to Woodstock for our final race before Montrose.  It went so so for both of us.  Newt didn't feel well, I didn't seem to "have it".   I finally had a good start in the 123 race, but couldn't hold my position.  I didn't want to blow up so I played it conservatively.   I blamed it on the railroad tie smoothness of the course, and the lack of running, which I have found that I need a lot of to do well in cyclocross.  The more running/ barriers in a race, the better.  The week following was thanksgiving, and I spent it with my family, got sorta sick, didn't train much, and found out Tina and my visa application for New Zealand got denied.  Bad news. 

Lansing, 11-16-2008

I love cheering.  It gets me pumped up for racing.  I am glad I upgraded to cat 2 because with reflection, I get to cheer all my  rival/friends (now just friends) in the 3 race at cyclocross.  I get to yell as loud as the cold allows, and stumble over names as everybody goes by in a blur.  I'm sorry if I called you Mike, when you are a Dave.  I'm NOT sorry to call you "Newt", when you are a Ryan, though. 

I had been racing the "double" in the cat 3 race, and then the 1,2,3  one hour later.  This was a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes of racing.  Good Ironman New Zealand training..... I hope.  My current  standing was 1st of the 3's in the Chicago Cyclocross Cup series, but decided it better to relinquish my lead and upgrade to the 2's.  I thought fresh legs would help me in the Lansing race for the 1,2,3 race.  I started and was in the bottom 5 (field of 25) into the first corner.  I managed to work up to 7th overall by the finish, also about the time it began to snow.  I love snow.  I enjoy racing in the hot, and the snow, just not in between.  The guys on the Bonebell crew got to return the cheering favor and made it clear that I was to live up to my new status as a "2".

St. Charles; Campton Cross, 11-2-2008

I love Halloween.  I wore part of my costume of Zoolander to the race, and without the full costume, I got lots of weird stares.  My parents were supposed to show up, but due to the construction on the highway, they missed my first race.  The 3's were great, Norton took off the first lap, and splintered the field.  He slipped on a corner and I took the lead there.  I was able to hammer solo the rest of the race towards my 2nd victory in the 3's that day, but unfortunately my parents showed up 10min after the race was over.  I pulled the double and managed 11th.

Bartlett, 10-26-2008

Great day.  VERY WINDY.  Cyclocross rookie and roommate Bjorn Boquist made the trip out for a race.  It was great for the whole gang.  I pulled off 2nd, and 9th in the 3's and 1,2,3's respectively.

Carpentersville, 10-19-2008

Cyclocross is full of fun, sand and crashes... as seen here, and here where I raced in the Cat 1/2/3's.

Tina and I have decided to move to New Zealand!  We leave Jan 21st, and I will be racing Ironman New Zealand on March 7th.  I'm returning to Ironman distance races!  I can't wait,

RACE REPORT

2008 Musselman ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup:

It's amazing at this level that a tiny little mistake can add minutes to your time, and double digits to your place.

RACE REPORT

ITU World Cup, Hamburg Germany; July 5th:

Bad luck caused me to  DNF in my first World Cup race.  It was very disappointing, but very cool to be racing athletes competing in this summer's Olympic Games.  RACE REPORT

What a fun race!  The 56 degree water was not so bad (thank god my wetsuit fit).  I had a tough time climbing all those hills on the bike, since the hills in Chicago are nonexistent, but my handling skills on the descent kept me in the race.  The trail run fit me perfectly.  During the run, the sand stairs were tough, but not impossible.  I guess the cold winter forcing me to run stairs to the 23rd floor of my apartment building wasn't so bad after all!  Full race report!

Lima, Peru.  Wonderful food, and a wonderful race happened here. It was the most fun I've had racing in a long time.  Check out my report HERE.

Upcoming Races!