this and that

I have been busy trying to heal up some ribs and keep the snow off the drive way. The other night I slide the minivan into a snow bank in my own driveway and had to be towed out by dusters, that's twice in 2 weeks now I have been stuck in my own yard.

I have been scrambling to get a couple upstairs bedrooms finished before I get the racing itch again. At least the weathers right for indoor work and I like projects for after dark. Eva is going to move upstairs a few months before the new baby comes and takes over the nursery, wonder what color she is going to pick for the walls?

Just knocked out the closets and getting ready for paint


The finishing room, a gazillion feet of knotty alder casing and baseboard all smoothed up and ready


The rib situation has not allowed skating but I have been out on the skis
Getting some turns in out my back door. This is a cool little hidden stash dropping into the top of red butte canyon off the emigration ridge line, the picture doesn't do it justice


looking into the top of red butte


looking into emigration, if you look close you can see Eva waving out the window


Now that 08 is here I am starting to think about racing again and planning on some cool events. I never get to far from racing shape and within a couple weeks of specificity can be ready to go but now is the time to start looking at the things needed in order to improve, for me that's what it's all about.

I don't have any kind of grand year end wrap other than it's been another good one, looking forward to the next. I have a great family and friends and get to do what I love, can't be that!

do you have your 80's outfit ready?

cheers!

Christmas with Eva was a riot!

highlights:

-Christmas morning show shoe up freeze creek with Eva barking orders from the backpack to go faster.

-Eva wanting to sing happy birthday to Jesus.

-Enjoying fake baked goods from Eva's new kitchen, how many calories are in a plastic brownie?

-Christmas eve movie night in the new theater room.

-Snow blowing 10 inches and shredding the newspaper on Christmas morning.

-Sleeping on a new memory foam bed overlay. correction, trying to sleep. see below.

-Keeping Eva from jumping on my newly fractured ribs, another story all together involving the lack of ninja like bike skills, a frozen puddle covered by a fresh dusting of powder, and handle bar into the rib cage.

-Eva (turned 2 in September) telling us "Santa is pretend"

Now once I heal up I can start looking at the new year

read it

Team MonaVie/Cannondale cyclocross nationals write up here.

Skied powder all day and now it's the weekend!!!!!!

snowtime

I have been using the snow blower nonstop since I got home, the timing could not be better. It has been raining in the valley but the mtns are getting it. Skied Soldier Hollow yesterday with B Firth and had a great time other than the lack of grooming, I guess the cat was in the shop and with the new snow we got a serious workout. Makes you appreciate the fine job the volunteer groomers do at Mtn Dell. Hope to hit that up again today.

I have been catching it a little regarding my last post. By no means am I looking to drum up publicity for myself, these are just some of my thoughts on ways to help revitalize the struggling domestic pro MTB scene, have you been to NORBA recently? The pro field is solid but all the other categories are lacking. When I was a junior the pro dudes where my hero's, I used to love hanging out after my race and watching some of the lesser known guys including Martin Stenger, Glen Adams, and Todd Henniman etc. The buzz is built one guy at time and only snowballs. Only hand full of guys can make a living on the bike, what are the rest of the 100+ pro field doing? That is what the everyday mountain biker can relate to.
just some thoughts

Possibly some more skiing and snow biking on tap for the weekend!

playing ketchup

The tough part about going away to races is coming home to work. I got up at 3am on Monday (Utah time) and caught a flight back to SLC just in time to make it to work and see patients. Now I am catching up with family and around the house. A full team monavie/cannondale write up will be up soon, I just have not had time to put some play by play together.

I was a little bummed to see no pics on cyclingnews or even a top 10 results on Velonews. My sponsors are awesome and deserve a little air time. I guess I should be used to it by now, in the world of us mountain biking and cyclocross if your name is not wells, craig, JHK, trebon, page, or johnson your name will hardly roll off the lips of the announcer. Its no wonder no one is watching, they get tired of hearing the same names played over and over.

People want to know more about the underdog, the everyday dude with a family and career who is out their slaying it. Everyone watching Sunday's US cyclocross national championships in KC should have heard that Ali Goulet, the retired pro snowboarder with bindings and tricks named after him had clawed his way from mid pack to pass cross superstar Jesse Anthony on the last lap for 13th place, this is the good stuff, this is where the passion is. No one knew!

I think velonews and the other mags should showcase a differnt rider each issue, not the same five guys that win all the time but the guys in the trenches trying to piece together support to make it to the next race. Help the sport a little, build some following, showcase the talent, people want to read about it. Sponsors might be a little more willing to support some riders if more than 5 guys got a little airtime. I know those guys win but if it was not for a solid competition those wins would not mean anything. For example ,what if velonews did a little story on me about getting 7th at MTB nationals, 7th at cross nationals, blah, blah, blah, all while juggling a family and carrer etc. Would'nt Mona Vie and my other loyale supporters get even more excited about investing in the sport of bike racing, maybe hiring on some other riders, maybe sponsoring some events, maybe advertising in bike magazines, or even looking to buy comercial time during televised cycling. There are dozens of pro riders just like me that don't win on the national level, don't get much expossure, but have interesting stories, and the possibility of promoting the bike game. We would all benefit.

I don't know where all those words came from, more pics next time.

KCCX quickie!

07 cross nats in the books. Utah showed well with Lew Rollins bringing home a national championship today.

The racing was fun and I rode well for 7th elite with Ali mastering the the tripod power slide for 12th or 13th. Full report and update with pics when I get home.

ut x final

You know it's not your day when your favorite neoprene gloves fall out of your skinsuit and into the toilet just after relieving yourself.

The one down side to a winning steak in Utah cross is complacency, I hate to say it but sometimes I have a difficult time getting myself motivated to put out a good effort at the local races, poor weather only exacerbates the problem. I get complacent. I don't dial in all the details, get a good warm up, dial in the tire pressure, and bring my A game, the competition is just to good for this lack luster effort. Yesterday I paid for it at the hand of Ali G.

I think it was my absolute least favorite conditions, thick mud that slows the race down to a crawl. It takes most of the technical aspect out of the race because you are never going fast enough. Ali rips in this stuff and his aggressive style had mud in my eyes and me off the pace. I was so cold I just could not get going, my legs felt like lead pipes. I put in a couple days of hard efforts during the week with the hope of stimulating some high end in time for nationals that I had not completly recovered from. What a contrast from wheeler the week. Anyway, I found myself just riding along and letting other people set my tempo, I know better than that. So with about 3 laps to go I pulled up my panty hose and decided to give it a 1 lap dig and see if I could make up any time. I seemed to have brought a little back so I rode flat out until I caught socks G with about 1/2 lap to go, I got to give it to him though, he did not go down without a fight and even stuffed me wide into the snow when I tried to pass the first time. The 2nd time was clean and right before the barriers headed into the false flat mud drag where I was able to open a gap to take the win. I have a lot of respect for Ali's game, he leaves all on the court.

Big props to all the 1st season cross racers for sticking it out all season. You will reap the rewards. The Ridley and Revolution gals are only going to get better, what about team Rico with a 3rd yesterday? DH and his clan rode strong all year, and I am willing to bet that they will again crush on the road next year. Cross form carries you through winter like nothing else.
I can't mention everyone but it is good to see the Utah cross family growing.
Will see everyone at the party.

Today I traded in the cross bike for the skinny skis and had a good time at Mtn Dell. I am hoping a little rest will have me raring to go for Kansas next week, will see.

my softer side

The coolest thing ever is listening to a 2 year old sing Christmas songs, I don't know where she gets it but Eva sings non stop. We did the ultrasound thing last week and found out we are having another girl, no surprise here. I guess my male swimmers just can't hack all the mid- summer saddle time. Eva and I are super excited and can't wait to have someone else to race. I was just commenting today how I can't wait for the Christmas that we get to pick out bikes for under the tree, it might be a while before I get to pick out something other than pink.

Sorry no good bike chat today, the season is winding down and skiing is on the mind. I just about ditched Kansas nationals for a ski trip to Sun Valley but the nordic tracks are not open yet and the mountain has little snow. I hope to have a good race or two in me. I have continued to commute to work so hopefully my fitness is hanging around, at least for a flat cross race or 2. Every year by the end of cross season I have put on a few pounds and this year is no exception, with the decreased daylight I just don't get enough activity to stay at fighting weight. That will give me some added motivation to get off our new sofa/flat screen combo.

Anyway, hope we get lots of snow for Saturday and it stays cold enough to pack.

I wish little dell would freeze over good and we could start an ice racing series this winter.

Just got a text from Fox about Ohran having dibs on climbum Jones' nickname while he is in temporary retirement. "Climbum Ohran" just doesn't fit!

a neoprene glove day

It's a good sign when I have to bust out the snow blower on a cross morning.

Despite the dumping snow I decided to bundle up and ride to the race today. I packed my fresh race clothes in a back pack and rallied the snow covered roads for a warm up. Legs are starting to get back to normal after a solid week of commuting and felt good on the ride in. I changed in Ohran's sprinter and felt like Nys in the RV, maybe next year will have some Mona Vie sprinters.

I love fast slick conditions that only snow pack can provide, mud's fun but can be messy and slow things down to much. Today was one of those perfect blizzard days we only get every few years. I burned a few laps to dial in my tire pressure and was grinning ear to ear, this is fun. The race went well for me and I could only dream of having these conditions at a big race like nationals. I love how the course changes throughout the race and you have to adapt as you go, absolute focus is necessary. I told Gardie my goal was to not crash once, I failed due to a lack of concentration and went down at the round about, that got my attention and I stayed on it the rest of the race. Looks like everyone was having a good time today, even the anouncers seemed to have a little more pep!

If you don't have some neoprene diving gloves you should get some, when it's cold and wet and you need fine motor control they can't be beat. I like the 2-3mm ones, they provide good dexterity and grip well when wet.

After the race I bundled up again and rode home, the snow haD stopped but the roads were still slushy, I figured since my bike was already dirty I might as well get a little riding in.

This evening we put in some serious sectional shopping time to outfit our loft, we did not buy anything but the pasta with marinara at IKEA is pretty good for $1.99. Now I am working on running some wires and mounting a flat screen on the wall, when I get it done it will be perfect for euro cross video night.