Friday, September 22

Two to Go

cal state races, that is, until the season is officially over. I have sworn off any notion of cyclocross so that october 23 will officially mark the start of base training. i cant wait actually.

This past weekend i raced up in Big Bear where i squeaked out another top spot on the podium, out of three. All in all it was a great day. I knew i had to hammer the climbs with Essence and Heidi trailing because they tend to catch up on the descents. I made a large enough lead on those hills to keep me a good 2 and half minutes out in front.

Jason and Dozer came along for the fun, making it Jasons first ever mountain bike day in big bear. I mean he was actually riding a bike!!!! The tables have truly turned and i feel like we have a cyclist on our hands. if you look really close, you can see green lycra peeking above his cargo shorts, he has vowed to never wear them solo, but he now understands that they at least need to be under the outer layer. We are going halves on a bike for his wedding gift, pretty much the coolest gift EVER. He has been riding to work and lamenting on the fatigue in his legs. He has suffered a very large gash on his right shin due to an unruly stick, all of which i take much pleasrue in. Yesterday he said, "well i might be late, i am going on a ride." DANG - that was my line!!!! That is so not fair!!! He hates the old helmet i gave him, so we may have to transition to a full face. he only really likes going down things. Last weekend he had me haul him and pet to the top of Morton Peak so they could bomb down. They were covered with a thick layer of powdery dust for a few days. Since all the CDF guys pretty much tore up that road during the last fire.

Oh yes, those wheels of mine. I guess i was a little un prepared for their rapid turnaround and customer care. The wheel i "broke" was a prototype, one of a kind. By the axl (actually the cups on the end were stripped) bending, this was a huge deal. It needed to be sent to Taiwan so they could fix their design. Pretty cool! By friday a new wheel was in town, another carbon that is shinier than the last. It rode well and took the pounding of trails like Fall LIne just fine!

Now, i have to teach. Maybe one day i will post a photo, but probably not!

Sunday, September 10

Sorry Pets!!

Hello my friends, family, and arch enemies. Although i do not slack off on this blogging mission as much as other people....i have not kept you adequately informed!!

FAVORITE DAY AT WORK: so far!This past friday i turned right out of Valley of the Falls drive instead of left and down into the dismal Inland Empire. I headed to Big Bear where i spent the day in the shade with the seniors as we traversed a ropes course with the intent to bond and hurdle some fears. Totally the best way to earn a pay check. This day totally beat out last friday, eventhough i spent the day at Yucaipa Regional Park with the entire high school going down water slides and swimming in the lagoon. Until the bb day, this was my favorite day at work.

LEAST FAVORITE DAY AT WORK: so far! All week days preceeding this past friday where i spent up to 8 hours on the football field with a myriad of girls over heating and seeing splotches due to the 106 degree weather.

A Bit of A Race: Thank you for rest! I felt a bit of a slacker as i skipped some recent workouts. However, this proved to have the opposite effect. I did a little race in Santa Barbara, part of the Cal State series where i podiumed for the first time since June. Since last season i did all local races, i landed a spot in the top three (out of three) at all the events. This year, having my ego bruised on a weekly basis on the national circuit has proven a little less fruitful in the hardware department. But those races sure taught me to suffer and to push through, which definatly helped me hammer to a first place finish, out of three.

This was a redemption race because in June this is where i got hypernatremia and puked a lot. This time i felt strong the entire time and was able to push myself harder than ever before. for the first time in months i felt like i was racing, not just holding on by a string and being chucked down a mountain by two big circles held together by some form of metal.

Low point: I TOTALLY bend the axel on my rear wheel! Very odd i know. I guess those covert training ops have really upped my wattage! Who knows with carbon wheels that cost a good percentage of the Jeep, i guess they cut weight in other places to. But due to the fact that they are created by an obscure German company that nobody has ever seen, the turn around on the product could take oh about 13 weeks. But now i realize why it felt like i was towing my bob trailer....