best yet

Sweet Potato Minestrone!

dark thirty

One nice thing about coming home from Brazil is waking up an hour before I need to at a cold dark 5:30, a good time to get some things done.

Home for a day now and trying to catch up before it all starts over again for La Ruta. Kind of hard to stay in shape with all these adventures so I hope to get some riding in as well. I learned a lot in Brazil and plan to share a bunch of pics when I get a chance.

On the flight home I was thinking about all the places I have had the opportunity to race my bike over the years. Cycling has provided me with more cool opportunities than I could have ever imagined.

Utah
Idaho
Wyoming
Montana
Colorado
Nevada
Arizona
New Mexico
California
Oregon
Washington
Texas
Kansas
Missouri
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Ohio
Indiana
Alabama
Georgia
Florida
South Carolina
North Carolina
Maryland
Virginia
West Virginia
New York
New Jersey
Connecticut
Vermont
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
Hawaii

Canada
Mexico
Puerto Rico
England
Australia
Fiji
Costa Rica
Panama
Peru
Brazil

Hopefully more exploration in the future, it seems the bike is the true form of freedom.

beating deserved

I got waxed today at the cross race and deserved it. My heart was not in it for some reason, I was content to just ride around with Ali and then race it out in the last few hundred meters, lazy man's racing. My mind was wondering, I was thinking about Monday's trip to Brazil, wondering if Stella's was napping yet (she has been sick with the croup and not sleeping well), and curious about Alex's flat. It's actually a good thing we did not get a chance to sprint due to some lapped traffic because then I might have had a chance to win and I did not deserve it. I had the fitness, the equipment, and the skills but the motivation was missing and motivation is as important as anything. Ali wanted the win more that I did and it showed as he punched it out the corners, took risks at the barriers, and forced the pace during the lulls. Now I did not have great legs or energy today but they were good enough, it was just a matter of focus. I am a little embarrassed about my effort today and congratulate Ali for his aggressive racing, he was a good example to me today. It's to bad we don't race again tomorrow because I would like to redeem myself.

Rosie on the other hand killed it in her 2nd race, she was motivated and more aggressive and even went out a little hard and faded at the end, that's adding to the bank of experience.

Guys were given it at the start today which forced a few crashes, Utah racing has really stepped up in the past couple years. With 2 big MTB stages races coming up I am not focusing on cross so much this year and plan to do mostly local racing which looks to be more competitive than ever.

So cross clinic tomorrow and then off to Brazil, should be an amazing trip and some tough racing.

If anyone is looking for a complete cyclocross bike or just a frame and fork with some parts, let me know. I have some cannondale's from last year that I need to part with.

clarks tt cx

I have been meaning to get down to Draper and ride the clarks TT on the cross bike for a while. Tanner told me it was in a good shape and prime for CXing. This afternoon I had to ride out to Sandy anyway so I just kept going down to Corner Canyon. The recent moisture has really helped the trails down there and they were all fun even on the CX bike.

I rode up to the bridge, took my LS jersey off and stashed it in the bushes, put some gloves on, and hurried to start so I would not run into the traffic I passed on the way up. Because I don't have a watch or HR monitor with a functioning battery, my new/old cell phone does not have a stop watch, and I don't have a computer on my cross bike I had to rob the one off my road bike and stash it in my Jersey pocket. Worked well other than the futzing around to get it out.

I started slow compared to what you would expect for a TT, just a steady fast tempo for the first few minutes. Because the grade is mellower at the bottom you can't gain much time by starting to fast and you can sure lose some. I never let my legs load up and just slowly let the terrain up the pace for me. Everything went well except about 3/4 of the way up I had that unmistakable feeling that I need to use the restroom, yup #2. Ohran always says that's a good sign of form when you need to poo while on a ride. Anyway, I made it to the top without incident but hit the John as soon as I got back to the parking lot.

My time was 8:24. I knew I was going faster than the last time I did it but unfortunately it's not because I am stronger. Gearing a 34 up front and a 12-27 rear cassette. I used 3 and 4 down for most of it and may have got into the 2 on the steepest part.

Why it was faster:
-The cross bike is better for standing up and pushing a big gear, in a short TT you don't need to spin like I did before. The cross bike is also a little lighter, although I was on my B bike with heavier wheels and tires. I should bust out the carbon tubulars. A rigid MTB single speed set up super light would also be really fast or even better would be a 16.5lb Cannondale Flash. Maybe next spring I will try it on a Flash! A little bigger volume tire would be better, I was worried about pinching in a couple high speed rough sections in the middle and actually had to slow down.

-Negative split pacing is faster. Look at the world record run times, negative split pacing probably accounts for 75% of all the world records, maybe more. Marathon, 10,000 meter, 5K does not matter. Faster in the 2nd half is faster overall. Last time I went out to hard and the legs loaded up early. This time I cruised into it and was never hurting all that bad, I could have gone harder for sure.

-Good dirt, not sticky but not dusty. Smooth with no horse marks, this is critical for the cross bike. When I did it before in June it was rougher and dusty. The MTB may have been as good at that time.

-Cool temps, maybe even a little to cool. My legs got that cold stiff feeling in the shade but it surely is faster than burning energy cooling the engine like in summer months.

It's to bad I live so far away because I would like to do it more often, it's a fun gauge and for a guy that does not do intervals it is a good way to get some intensity in without burning up the CNS.

The ride back on the road was nice and made for about a 3hr ride with a 8 minute effort in the middle.

finally some racing and skiing

My posts have been spotty at best lately and I don't know why. I enjoy posting as it helps clarify my thoughts and ideas and it really does not take that much time. I think I might start posting a little more regular.

Utah Cyclocross is finally underway and if you did not make it, for whatever reason you missed out big! Rosie knocked out her first cross race ever and had a great time. The girls loved cheering for mom!


Sam did another great job with the video!

Every Category was bigger and faster than last year and looks like we will see alot of tight racing this year. The A race had a solid field and with a fast flat course the racing mostly stayed together in groups. I was happy with how I felt during the race but when I gassed it around 30 minutes in I was limited by muscular strength to push the big gear and snap out of the corners, a few more races and time on the cross bike should help that.

The Cross Clinic was postponed until Oct. 11th so you can still sign up and refine your technique, bike fit, training, and overall race readiness. I know everyone thinks they have it all dialed but cross is skill intensive like nordic skiing or swimming and you can always learn more and refine. $50 is a bargin for 1 on 1 feedback, instruction, and forced practice plus you get lunch. That's less than we can spend on one tire. Ask anyone that has done it in the past, well worth it. And don't worry, no one is making any money I only pump it because you will improve and the more people that come the better race simulations we can have.

Anyway, the new bike ripped and after the race I made a few small position adjustments that should refine my balance and power on the bike.

So today I was treated to some rest day ski touring, yup first turns of the year for me. Jared and I burned up to Alta about after work this afternoon and got in an hour and half. Nothing crazy just good to be out hiking and making turns. Plenty of rocks to dodge but surprisingly fun. This weeks warm up should put and end to skiing and with the Brazil trip planned for next week (assuming we get our visas) I likely won't be skiing again for a while.

Check the damage? Rock skis...