Well. I did it. Next spring I will no longer be a rookie. At least not on the cross bike, that is. I still only have one road race under my belt. That will Change soon. So many changes. This year I raced in the Black and Pink of Team Pegasus. A good time for sure. Ironic how I never really raced in those colors when I was anywhere near any other members. (Count alleycats? I don't. not usually. No respectable results there even, anyhow). I am quite satisfied with my first real season on a bike. I've been riding bikes for 3 years now. Including one as a courier out in Philly. Definitely fun. But I'm much faster now. I should have started racing sooner. Oh well. Only alleycats for the first two years (with some pretty decent results).
The main change that you will notice is that I will no longer be in black and pink. As of the new year, I am done with Team Pegasus and will be riding both for and with the Grumpys/LittleGuyRacing team out of Minneapolis. I am VERY excited about this switch. I know that having a group of people locally available to ride and race with with improve my performance greatly. Two of those riders did OVER 50 races this year. That is dedication. I think that I'll be up at the track with those guys a bit, too. Thinking about buying a Masi frameset. I really don't like having bikes that I can't just go ride. I already fucked up my knees on track bikes once. I don't need to do that again.
I love all of the Pegasus kids and I wish them great luck (not that I won't ever talk to them again. I just hope we can be at at least ONE race together next year. That'd be more than this year, at least). I'll be down for SuperWeek for sure, so that'll be done.
Well. I just wanted to mention that I know that I need to work on some things. On the road, I just need to work on being faster and knowing what's going on. I never did figure out where that damn finish line was out in Avon. That may or may not have helped. I know that I need to work on off camber stuff, decents, and 180's on the cross bike. I also (rather obviously) want to increase my power output all around. Not too bad, I think. Just some work. Taking a bit off the bike right now. Probably start back up middle of January for serious. Work will be slower and I'll have just gotten back from vacation. Going to have to do something to avoid showing up in April looking like our favorite Jan Ulrich. (Don't doubt me!).
Hell. That's enough. Results.
Road
8/25/07 MN State Road Race Championships. Avon, MN. Cat 4/5. 10 out of 63.
Cross
9/23/07 Porkchop Challenge. St. Cloud, MN. C class. 4 out of 67
9/29/07 Riverfront CX. Hudson, WI. C class. 3 out of 53
9/30/07 MCT CX. Orono, MN. C class. 1 out of 33
10/7/07 Lake Rebecca CX. Rockford, MN. C class. 2 out of 66 finishers.
10/7/07 Lake Rebecca CX. Rockford, MN. B class. 29 out of 65 finishers.
10/21/07 Mill City CX. Minneapolis, MN. B class. DNF
10/27/07 Red Barn CX. Taylors Falls, MN. B class. 7 out of 56
10/28/07 Back2School CX. Northfield, MN. A class. 14 out of 28 overall. 4th out of 8 Cat 3
11/17/07 CX State Champs. Crystal, MN. B2 (Cat 3/35 plus masters) 13 out of 61 (finishers) overall 9th out of 26 (finishers) cat 3
11/24/07 Jingle Cross Day 1. Iowa City, IO. 3/4. 14th out of 81 (finishers) First Minnesotan
11/25/07 Jingle Cross Day 2. Iowa City, IO 3/4. 23rd out of 78 (finishers)
That's it. Year one complete. By my calculation I should be 5 points deep in my Cat 3 cross-ness. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm hoping that I can email Matt (anderson) and make him let me race cat 4 next year on the road. I've only done the one race, but I've raced a few...and hell. I beat all of the other cat 5's at States. We'll see.
Goals:
Get to Cat 2 in Cross. Can do, I reckon. Get more consistent. Make people know me. and not for my silly kit. Hang in the A races. Beat Matt Allen. More than once. (twice is ok). Hoping to be able to mark people like Dewey and Aric (Hareland). That is the stretch goal.
Get to Cat 3 and have 10 upgrade points for Cat 2 on the road. Again. Make people know me.
Thats all. May have to revise later. We'll see.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Jingle Cross. Part 2. Jingle Crossed
Well. Now it's been quite a few days. My side doesn't hurt any less. I don't remember much. Got to the race. Yelled myself hoarse with Ben, Dan, and Mike. Was joined a bit by Spencer (drawn to us by the Mortal Treason, I figure) with Little Guy, Tuffy, Leslie, and Sarah just standing across the course laughing. The ladies got into the act a bit later though. Damn them. Almost gave myself a headache from yelling at people. Very good times. Best part of Day 2, for sure.
Well, the race. Lined up next to Mike again. Heard the start this time. Didn't have a good start again. I guess my strategy for the races that I really don't care about that much is just to go at my own pace and pick people off throughout the course. Works for decent finishes. Not so much for great ones. Felt ok. Not great. Far from bad. (So far). Went out the starting straight. 180. Over the barriers. Back on bike. Left turn. Avoid a half dozen fallen riders. Yep. Someone decided it would be fun to pile up some riders right in the middle of the course. GENIUS! I will say that it makes for a nice obstacle. Didn't have to stop. Slowed, worked between a couple of them, and kept going. I guess that made up for my above-par start. From there a few more turns and straights. Up a fairly steep off camber 180 then across more off camber (picked off people here throughout the race) followed by a fast left veering downhill. A very short easy section to a sharp 90 degree turn into some logs (meant to create a run up. Damn Todd Wells and hit ridiculous power output and skill level!) Followed by a pretty long run up. I managed to get back on my bike a good spot consistently. (Although not very cleanly, nor very quickly some laps) A lot of people ran much further than I did and that made is fairly easy (as easy as riding/running up a big hill can be) to pick off more people. This is also where the ladies mentioned above brought out the superfan for me. SO LOUD! It was pretty nuts. Thanks! I definitely know why people are always smiling when I'm yelling at them now.
Yeah. Top of the hill. Wind a bit down the other side (the long ride up from yesterday) went down at an ok clip. not super fast, cause I'm a wuss. Caught the rider in front of me right at the bottom (normally a good thing, right?). Went to take the inside line. Got a little bit too far up inside his wheel. He went inside as well. (We all know how that works out, right?) Yeah. You guessed it. At this point I'm already looking for a soft spot to land (witnessed by Tuffy). Too bad it was a gravel "road" and there are nothing even resembling soft on this part of the course. Oh well. By the time I had the above thoughts out, I was on my way down. Hit the gravel. Slid for about 10 feet (a distant Tuffy described as "surprisingly short, considering") Managed to voice "That hurt." and started to get up. Didn't get hit while I was down, which I was more surprised about then actually falling. Yeah, Oh well. Enough of that. Got back on bike. Got rolling. Everything works. Nothing broken. Keep going. Hurt really bad. Knee and hip mostly. Keep going. Yeah. So I did. Didn't really have the heart to try for a good position, So I just kept riding. Every time we turned into the wind it pressed my jersey against my skin (where there was no more skin) and it really hurt. Going up that hill hurt a lot, too. oh well. I lived. My goal at this point was just to finish. Crashing on the first lap kind of sucks.
On one of the next few laps, I managed to work back up to Fil (who got the wholeshot both days) just before the sandpit. Through the sandpit some other dude yells something about "don't be an asshole". I don't know if it was to Fil or me, but we both took it a little personally (Sure, I passed him on the outside through a narrow doorway, but that's racing, right? You can only go as fast as the person in front of you, and he was going too slow.) He and Fil had a few words. I threw some of my own in there (but mine where things like, "that's racing" and "A cross race is a bad time for a fight". Not fanning flames). Oh well. I have no real idea how that ended, as I kinda pulled away, but I heard nothing else about it, so I assume all is well.
On the second to last lap I was riding a bit behind Super Rookie. The official was counting out spots. I was sitting at 31st. FUCK. You know what that means? No? It means I get a new goal. I wanted to hit 25th. Passed Tim a bit later and tried to up the pace. Some things happened. I passed some people. Paul (Schoening?) was in front of me with about 1/2 a lap to go. As I passed Dan he yelled for me to catch him. I told him "Not yet". What is that!?!!? I was thinking I could catch him on one of the straights after the multiple 180's. NOPE. He managed to put quite some time into me through that section. Coming out of the 180's I knew that he'd beaten me. That's O.K. If I couldn't finish well, I at least wanted to finish strong. As soon as I hit the last straight, I just gunned it. Shifted up to my biggest gear (which was only 42-12) and gave it all I had for the last bit. Crossed the line. My season was over!
Turns out I finished in 23rd. Mission accomplished.
Sat around. Changed. Watched the Elite race. Todd Wells is a monster. JESUS! Tristan rode a hell of a race. That was cool to see. I don't know him, but he's from WI as well. I feel a kinship. Marko killed it, too. Bergemann bettered the previous day by a position. Bjorn lost a spot (to Tristan). Ben finished 20th for the second day in a row. It was a fun day.
Said my goodbyes, loaded into Jake's car. Went to Wal-Mart for a plunger (Menards was closed). stopped at the co-op for some food and we left town. A very fun weekend. I can't wait until next year. This is gonna be great.
Dewey and Dan pulled in another 1/2 today. Reversed, though. Linda came in 4th in her race. Dewey finished 10th in the Elite race AFTER racing the 35 plus earlier in the day. phew! that's all.
Well, the race. Lined up next to Mike again. Heard the start this time. Didn't have a good start again. I guess my strategy for the races that I really don't care about that much is just to go at my own pace and pick people off throughout the course. Works for decent finishes. Not so much for great ones. Felt ok. Not great. Far from bad. (So far). Went out the starting straight. 180. Over the barriers. Back on bike. Left turn. Avoid a half dozen fallen riders. Yep. Someone decided it would be fun to pile up some riders right in the middle of the course. GENIUS! I will say that it makes for a nice obstacle. Didn't have to stop. Slowed, worked between a couple of them, and kept going. I guess that made up for my above-par start. From there a few more turns and straights. Up a fairly steep off camber 180 then across more off camber (picked off people here throughout the race) followed by a fast left veering downhill. A very short easy section to a sharp 90 degree turn into some logs (meant to create a run up. Damn Todd Wells and hit ridiculous power output and skill level!) Followed by a pretty long run up. I managed to get back on my bike a good spot consistently. (Although not very cleanly, nor very quickly some laps) A lot of people ran much further than I did and that made is fairly easy (as easy as riding/running up a big hill can be) to pick off more people. This is also where the ladies mentioned above brought out the superfan for me. SO LOUD! It was pretty nuts. Thanks! I definitely know why people are always smiling when I'm yelling at them now.
Yeah. Top of the hill. Wind a bit down the other side (the long ride up from yesterday) went down at an ok clip. not super fast, cause I'm a wuss. Caught the rider in front of me right at the bottom (normally a good thing, right?). Went to take the inside line. Got a little bit too far up inside his wheel. He went inside as well. (We all know how that works out, right?) Yeah. You guessed it. At this point I'm already looking for a soft spot to land (witnessed by Tuffy). Too bad it was a gravel "road" and there are nothing even resembling soft on this part of the course. Oh well. By the time I had the above thoughts out, I was on my way down. Hit the gravel. Slid for about 10 feet (a distant Tuffy described as "surprisingly short, considering") Managed to voice "That hurt." and started to get up. Didn't get hit while I was down, which I was more surprised about then actually falling. Yeah, Oh well. Enough of that. Got back on bike. Got rolling. Everything works. Nothing broken. Keep going. Hurt really bad. Knee and hip mostly. Keep going. Yeah. So I did. Didn't really have the heart to try for a good position, So I just kept riding. Every time we turned into the wind it pressed my jersey against my skin (where there was no more skin) and it really hurt. Going up that hill hurt a lot, too. oh well. I lived. My goal at this point was just to finish. Crashing on the first lap kind of sucks.
On one of the next few laps, I managed to work back up to Fil (who got the wholeshot both days) just before the sandpit. Through the sandpit some other dude yells something about "don't be an asshole". I don't know if it was to Fil or me, but we both took it a little personally (Sure, I passed him on the outside through a narrow doorway, but that's racing, right? You can only go as fast as the person in front of you, and he was going too slow.) He and Fil had a few words. I threw some of my own in there (but mine where things like, "that's racing" and "A cross race is a bad time for a fight". Not fanning flames). Oh well. I have no real idea how that ended, as I kinda pulled away, but I heard nothing else about it, so I assume all is well.
On the second to last lap I was riding a bit behind Super Rookie. The official was counting out spots. I was sitting at 31st. FUCK. You know what that means? No? It means I get a new goal. I wanted to hit 25th. Passed Tim a bit later and tried to up the pace. Some things happened. I passed some people. Paul (Schoening?) was in front of me with about 1/2 a lap to go. As I passed Dan he yelled for me to catch him. I told him "Not yet". What is that!?!!? I was thinking I could catch him on one of the straights after the multiple 180's. NOPE. He managed to put quite some time into me through that section. Coming out of the 180's I knew that he'd beaten me. That's O.K. If I couldn't finish well, I at least wanted to finish strong. As soon as I hit the last straight, I just gunned it. Shifted up to my biggest gear (which was only 42-12) and gave it all I had for the last bit. Crossed the line. My season was over!
Turns out I finished in 23rd. Mission accomplished.
Sat around. Changed. Watched the Elite race. Todd Wells is a monster. JESUS! Tristan rode a hell of a race. That was cool to see. I don't know him, but he's from WI as well. I feel a kinship. Marko killed it, too. Bergemann bettered the previous day by a position. Bjorn lost a spot (to Tristan). Ben finished 20th for the second day in a row. It was a fun day.
Said my goodbyes, loaded into Jake's car. Went to Wal-Mart for a plunger (Menards was closed). stopped at the co-op for some food and we left town. A very fun weekend. I can't wait until next year. This is gonna be great.
Dewey and Dan pulled in another 1/2 today. Reversed, though. Linda came in 4th in her race. Dewey finished 10th in the Elite race AFTER racing the 35 plus earlier in the day. phew! that's all.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Jingle Cross. Part 1: Hugs and High fives.
Yeah. What to say? All sorts of fun times over the weekend. Worked a 1/2 day, hung out with Margaret until Jake (Helmbrech. MN CRY C class champion and all around good guy) showed up and we loaded my things into/onto the car and headed to pick up Julia. Good times. two bikes and a wheel on top (more on that later) and a bunch of stuff inside. Did you know that there are still gas stations that don't use pay-at-the-pump? I didn't. until we got into the heart of nothingness that Iowa seems to be. Somewhere in Iowa Jake's front wheel fell off the car as well. Just driving down the freeway. THUNK! we didn't have to walk back very far to find it, and it was still perfectly true and all, but the on the freeway wearing black isn't really the place you want to be at night. Probably especially in Iowa. Oh well. It was a 5 hour car ride and we left St. Paul at around 4:30. That means that we missed packet pickup by a solid 30 minutes. That sucked. Both Jake and I would have liked to have picked up our rider packets the night before. Far from necessary, though.
Well, we got in and before I get a step into the door I get a hug from Ben Popper. That was something that I was looking forward too. I haven't seen him (or Dan, for that matter) since my wedding. Far too long. It was super nice to see them and we all hung out in their room (with new friends Mike and Tim) until it was asleep time.
I was staying in a room with a couple of LGR (little guy racing) members (4 of them) so space was a bit tight, but I got a good nights sleep and woke up early. Ate a bagel and drank a bunch of water, then rode out to the course with Dan while Ben and Mike drove there. Found it easy. regrouped. Got there early enough to ride a lap before the beginner race started. I was happy about that. It's nice to know what you're in for before hand. I've neglected to do a lap at a couple races this season, and while I don't think it's a HUGE drawback, it is nice to be somewhat familiar with where the hills and turns are.
And turns there were. Not a lot of hills, but the ones that were on the course definitely counted. It was a fun course. Definite powerfest (the way I like 'em). Start down a fairly long straight, 180. straight. double barriers. Turn left while remounting. some windy stretch. turn. past some barns (and through one that held a sand pit, and probably animal poo pit). The entire front half of the course seemed either long-ish and straight-ish or a whole bunch of 180's. I'm good at the former, and pretty bad at the latter. go out a pretty long straight and hit a giant banked 180. that part was a blast. then head over to some rutted out 180's through mud and over logs. Then over to a really big uphill. One of my favorite parts of the course. (I have three. The banked 180, the uphill, and the finish stretch) Up the winding hill. Wind a bit at the top, and then come down the other side. Pretty much screaming down the other side (something else I'm not very good at. I lack confidence) Not as long as the uphill, but a lot steeper. I honestly can't remember the course between this part and the finish. I have a hard time remembering details of races. I know that the finish straight was really long and gravel, and definitely a good part to haul ass. The laps were fairly long. We did 5 in 45 minutes. I had a good first day. Finished 14th and beat all other riders from Minnesota (a point of pride for me, but only because Matt Allen was having a ton of chain troubles.
I lined up right beside Mike Hemme (killjoy) and we were chatting away. Through the start. We all stood there after we lined up for about 3 minutes. Pretty quiet. People talking. Jake was stretching his hamstring with his ankle on the handlebars. I asked Mike when they were going to start the race, and then everyone in front of us takes off. I had both of my feet on the ground. Totally unexpected for anyone after the third row. But hell, that's life. We went off. I didn't have a great start, but that's what happens when you start 60 riders back. Nothing really noteable here. Just making up ground. Going slower than I wanted due to rider traffic. Everything was pretty congested until after the sandpit. That spread people out. I wanted to ride it, and I did after the first lap, but there way too many people in the way the first time through. Settled into a rhythm and started playing catch up. Got a lot of people on the run up. Got a lot of people on the uphill. lost some spots on the downhill. Made them up at the finish stretch. I pretty much sat in and/or recovered unless it was one of those stretches. finished the first lap. Lap counter said 4 more. Thought "Easy!" We did 9 laps at the State Champs, and the last race before that I did was an A race. 5 more laps seemed very little. Oh well.
I was settling into a rhythm. My goals going into the race was top 20. Didn't think much past that. I saw Jake a bit up the course and I got him. He slowed for me a bit, I think. Regardless. We rode the last 1/2 a lap together. I knew that if he got to the top of the hill before me he'd beat me to the line. I also knew that if I got the hill first I had him. I almost asked him if he wanted to ride to the finish straight together and then just sprint it out (repeat of Lake Rebecca. He beat me there). I couldn't get the words out. No bother. I hung behind him until the base of the hill and took off. I got past him on the first stretch and didn't look back until we were down it. I had it. It was just him and I riding near us. (I knew we were sitting somewhere in the field. not sure where though...After the race but before results Mike and I assumed a bit better than 20th). I just gassed it to the line and rode a bit to cool down. (sorry. that's vague. Remember what I said about not remembering details? I remember passing Matt on the second lap while he was messing with his chain. I remember passing Spencer on the uphill. That's about it. Never saw Mike. That's about all I remember)
Turns out that I ended up in 14th, Jake in 15th and Mike in 10th. That sucker beat me. I'm ok with it. He's proven to be a worthy adversary. As is Jake, but I have a history with him. That's about it for my race. It was fast. It was fun. I settled in and didn't drive as much as I should have. But I could say that about pretty much any of my race.
Enough about me. Minnesota came out in force! The dude that got 3rd in the C class CRY (Joe Schlechter) won the beginner race both days(but I hear he finished the C class CRY pretty well last year too. That means that he is NOT a beginner and shouldn't be racing as one. Upgrade when you earn it, guys!) Linda Sone finished 3rd in the UCI Elite womens race. Dewey Dickey and Dan Casper finished 1 and 2 in the 35+ race (Ahead of Kevin - Killjoy- in 3rd). Bjorne Selander took 3rd in the Mens Elite UCI race. Adam Bergemann Finished 7th in UCI Elite. Ben Popper (killjoy-chicago) rode a great race and finished in 20th. Well deserved and well done, Ben!
We went back the hotel and Ben, Mike and I got payed out and sat around for a bit. Showered (separately) and changed. I went out for indian food with the Little Guy team and then went and hung out at 3rd base. Got a pitcher of Shirley Temple and shot animated sheep. and turkeys. Had some fun. Got real tired. went back the the hotel. Long day. Fun day. Was looking forward to day 2.
Well, we got in and before I get a step into the door I get a hug from Ben Popper. That was something that I was looking forward too. I haven't seen him (or Dan, for that matter) since my wedding. Far too long. It was super nice to see them and we all hung out in their room (with new friends Mike and Tim) until it was asleep time.
I was staying in a room with a couple of LGR (little guy racing) members (4 of them) so space was a bit tight, but I got a good nights sleep and woke up early. Ate a bagel and drank a bunch of water, then rode out to the course with Dan while Ben and Mike drove there. Found it easy. regrouped. Got there early enough to ride a lap before the beginner race started. I was happy about that. It's nice to know what you're in for before hand. I've neglected to do a lap at a couple races this season, and while I don't think it's a HUGE drawback, it is nice to be somewhat familiar with where the hills and turns are.
And turns there were. Not a lot of hills, but the ones that were on the course definitely counted. It was a fun course. Definite powerfest (the way I like 'em). Start down a fairly long straight, 180. straight. double barriers. Turn left while remounting. some windy stretch. turn. past some barns (and through one that held a sand pit, and probably animal poo pit). The entire front half of the course seemed either long-ish and straight-ish or a whole bunch of 180's. I'm good at the former, and pretty bad at the latter. go out a pretty long straight and hit a giant banked 180. that part was a blast. then head over to some rutted out 180's through mud and over logs. Then over to a really big uphill. One of my favorite parts of the course. (I have three. The banked 180, the uphill, and the finish stretch) Up the winding hill. Wind a bit at the top, and then come down the other side. Pretty much screaming down the other side (something else I'm not very good at. I lack confidence) Not as long as the uphill, but a lot steeper. I honestly can't remember the course between this part and the finish. I have a hard time remembering details of races. I know that the finish straight was really long and gravel, and definitely a good part to haul ass. The laps were fairly long. We did 5 in 45 minutes. I had a good first day. Finished 14th and beat all other riders from Minnesota (a point of pride for me, but only because Matt Allen was having a ton of chain troubles.
I lined up right beside Mike Hemme (killjoy) and we were chatting away. Through the start. We all stood there after we lined up for about 3 minutes. Pretty quiet. People talking. Jake was stretching his hamstring with his ankle on the handlebars. I asked Mike when they were going to start the race, and then everyone in front of us takes off. I had both of my feet on the ground. Totally unexpected for anyone after the third row. But hell, that's life. We went off. I didn't have a great start, but that's what happens when you start 60 riders back. Nothing really noteable here. Just making up ground. Going slower than I wanted due to rider traffic. Everything was pretty congested until after the sandpit. That spread people out. I wanted to ride it, and I did after the first lap, but there way too many people in the way the first time through. Settled into a rhythm and started playing catch up. Got a lot of people on the run up. Got a lot of people on the uphill. lost some spots on the downhill. Made them up at the finish stretch. I pretty much sat in and/or recovered unless it was one of those stretches. finished the first lap. Lap counter said 4 more. Thought "Easy!" We did 9 laps at the State Champs, and the last race before that I did was an A race. 5 more laps seemed very little. Oh well.
I was settling into a rhythm. My goals going into the race was top 20. Didn't think much past that. I saw Jake a bit up the course and I got him. He slowed for me a bit, I think. Regardless. We rode the last 1/2 a lap together. I knew that if he got to the top of the hill before me he'd beat me to the line. I also knew that if I got the hill first I had him. I almost asked him if he wanted to ride to the finish straight together and then just sprint it out (repeat of Lake Rebecca. He beat me there). I couldn't get the words out. No bother. I hung behind him until the base of the hill and took off. I got past him on the first stretch and didn't look back until we were down it. I had it. It was just him and I riding near us. (I knew we were sitting somewhere in the field. not sure where though...After the race but before results Mike and I assumed a bit better than 20th). I just gassed it to the line and rode a bit to cool down. (sorry. that's vague. Remember what I said about not remembering details? I remember passing Matt on the second lap while he was messing with his chain. I remember passing Spencer on the uphill. That's about it. Never saw Mike. That's about all I remember)
Turns out that I ended up in 14th, Jake in 15th and Mike in 10th. That sucker beat me. I'm ok with it. He's proven to be a worthy adversary. As is Jake, but I have a history with him. That's about it for my race. It was fast. It was fun. I settled in and didn't drive as much as I should have. But I could say that about pretty much any of my race.
Enough about me. Minnesota came out in force! The dude that got 3rd in the C class CRY (Joe Schlechter) won the beginner race both days(but I hear he finished the C class CRY pretty well last year too. That means that he is NOT a beginner and shouldn't be racing as one. Upgrade when you earn it, guys!) Linda Sone finished 3rd in the UCI Elite womens race. Dewey Dickey and Dan Casper finished 1 and 2 in the 35+ race (Ahead of Kevin - Killjoy- in 3rd). Bjorne Selander took 3rd in the Mens Elite UCI race. Adam Bergemann Finished 7th in UCI Elite. Ben Popper (killjoy-chicago) rode a great race and finished in 20th. Well deserved and well done, Ben!
We went back the hotel and Ben, Mike and I got payed out and sat around for a bit. Showered (separately) and changed. I went out for indian food with the Little Guy team and then went and hung out at 3rd base. Got a pitcher of Shirley Temple and shot animated sheep. and turkeys. Had some fun. Got real tired. went back the the hotel. Long day. Fun day. Was looking forward to day 2.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
well then...
It's late. (in the season. It's barely after ten at night...) I'm kinda tired. I leave for Iowa City for Jingle Cross tomorrow. I'm very excited for it. I should be lining up around 60th both days. That kinda sucks, but it's my own fault. Shoulda registered earlier. I don't care. More people to work through. It makes me feel faster, and better, for that matter, than riding all alone between groups of people.
Oh well. I wish I'd have started my very own blog much earlier. You know, to keep track of my races and how I felt (physically and emotionally) both after and during them. I have not, but if I had been, you'd have read about how I think that I need to work on my cornering (see Back2School and the State Champs) and on odd "natural" barriers (see log at bottom of downhill 180 in Hudson and the stupid not bolted down logs at Powderhorn). I do well enough at the rest of it. I really owe some thanks to Spencer for helping me out with dismount at the deer pen. and Ben Popper for the motivation and inspiration. I obviously owe thanks to my wife. She's pretty rad. She helps me more than she knows in all of this. Thanks babe, I love you.
That's out of the way. First, a warning. This may not make sense. My sense of sentence structure is kinda flawed and I like to use comma's, periods, and ellipses at random. Deal with it. (but do it in a loving quirky kind of a way.)
I plan to keep entries going every few days with my riding and physical differences. It'll help me to document it, and knowing (or at least thinking) that people may be reading this might help keep me honest and doing some work.
Thanks about it for now. I'm sure you'll see a big post about the weekend by tuesday. Or maybe more background. Who knows...we'll see.
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