Taking It Easy

That's what I've been doing. I've ridden twice in the last week and have "gone out" as many times. This week has been fun/stressfull. Its Halloween so that's been a blast with all the festivities going on. The cycling team had a nationals celebration/ Halloween party last Friday which was an absolute blast. Saturday was another really long night and yesterday was watching the Boulder UCI cross race. Of course the national champ T-wells killed it. The Danish national champ was there and was well, not the best of sports. When he crossed the line 2nd with third right behind him he then proceeded to celebrate and look back flashing third in a very rude way. To say the least it didn't go over well with the crowd. Bryan raced my bike and did really well despite his/my chain coming off three times, one on the start and one on the last lap to top things off. He managed to start last of like 70 people and finish 4th, pretty impressive. That's was about it, I've been doing a lot of studying lately. Actually I write this as I sit in the library, wow I'm cool. Ok well that's that. I will update with some pics and other fun stuff, meanwhile you should go pay J-Man a visit as he is in some pain, give him a hug or something. Well until I get my crap together ciao.

Nationals...and stuff

Well this past weekend was an awesome experience. In fact i was having so much fun i forgot to take many pics. The Racing was only part of what contributed to me having a great time. Meeting new people and cheering on the team probably topped the list even though my races when well. The short track start was at 8am. Now let me tell you it was cold....i mean thisisnt just texas cold, low low 20's is cold to anyone wearing simply spandex. The course was brutal but suited me well. I was near the back and worked my way up first three laps and major traffic. I got pulled with three laps to go but oh well. I ended up getting 25th out of 75. I was really happy with my result but Bryan and Collin killed it getting 6th and 8th. FLC just killed it. props to them as they really raced well taking 1,2,3. the girls did well as well taking 6,8, 10 and 20 i believe.
After Short Track it was mainly recovering and just hanging out. The overachievers did the omnium and raced basically all day, props to them way to go Caroline and Danae!
Saturday was another brutaly early wakeup call, 5:30am. We ate and got ready for the XC. This morning was colder then the previous day. It snowed on us during the start as well as during the race, something i havent experienced yet. Again I started almost on the back row but managed to have a good start and passed quite a few people. the first lap i felt really good....tooo good, as i worked my way into the low 20's i started the long, rough downhill. By the bottom i had kinda shut down and starting the lap again posed some trouble. I went backward but held strong at the top, passed a few on the downhill and finished 31 out of 86. Once again i was happy but the days props deffinately went to Bryan who threw down to end up on the podi only 1:30 or so back from the winner. Collin had a great race as well finishing 8th. Brad finished 20th with a great second lap. The woman killed as well with a 4th, 6th, 7th and 20th.
Now after the race, and im talking right after the race the real festivities began. Little did i know that natioanls would be the ultimate fiesta to conclude the whole season which began this Feb. Well all im gonna say is lots of people, lots of boose, lots of crazy stuff and a huge naked crit. The Day/night/morning was one huge blur that while it lasted 22 hours was over too soon. the weekend was a blast with too much to talk about. Great job to everyone that raced. While we got second to FLC im convinced that we would have won without our catestrophic mens 4cross.But hands down FLC also deserved the W as they raced superb this weekend.

the pre ride:


Bryan:


Collin:




Womans XC start:


Collin had enough "recovery drink" that he felt like running a marathon:


he also felt like getting naked:


Bryan was feeling real good when we took the charilift up:


How the water wasn't frozen i dont know:








The DH'ers also killed it sunday:


To a great weekend of racing!

The White Death is Here!

yea, its here. The white plague. Boulder just got hit with about 4 to 6 inches of snow. Its October for crying out loud!!!!!! Well this weekend didnt go as planned. I showed up eager and ready to race. I did alright for the start lap and the first long one until I a: racked myself and B: flatted. It was a quick fix but still took a good little chunk of time. I drank plenty and ate 4 gel's however the Blake Plague as i like to call it occured. And those of you who know me know what that is...yup you guessed it, i cramped. I cramped BAAAAAAAAAAD. Both Hamy's went this time. After roughly 10 minutes of pure pain and yelling along the trail i was able to bring it in. I got 18th or so out of roughly 40 people according to the start list. It was bad though and i need to get this crap dialed before Nats this weekend in New Mexico, which BTW im really excited for. So thats that, CU took a 3rd and a 4th and we're looking pretty strong. Collin Cares was the one that ripped everyone's legs off this weekend but lucky for us he's not in our division.
So today i woke up to a cold morning. after getting out of my lab i realized it was snowing! It snowed all day!!!!!!! This is pure insanity. Its October and i just dont understand. Oh well. Here are some pics to chew on. I wont be updating for awhile since i leave tomorrow. Wish me luck!!




Oh and Congrats to J Dawg and Robbie R!!!! Both had awesome races, Jason winning the National Duathalon Championship while Robbie took the gold becomming the 2006 Texas Road Racing Champ!!! Awesome rides! I hope i can pull out something this weekend!

The Great White

Well, it all started last weekend (sry btw for not posting this week). However it has been events all this week that had made me very aware that my first great white winter is right around the corner. The snow is creeping up from mountain range to mountain range and is now peaking over into our current mountains.

Last weekend was a fun time. We raced in Grand Junction. Danae drove a good bit and well, she got us there....fast.....with a trailer on the back.....in the dark...........


thats all i have to say about that ;)

When we did make it to GJ alive we found some had also had a fun drive down.....Everyone meet Sarah:


Well after some good sleep it was time to head to the short track on saturday. well....it was a little wet and the course was prime for the riding.


Lets Race!!!!!


not! lets get out of here....or not..


So after the botched STXC we headed back to the room for some breakfast and sleep. however some didnt feel like eating or sleeping at 10:30 AM!

dont ask..... However the morning wasn't a complete bust:


Later that day we ended up having the short track on sidewalk as Mesa State. Yup complete concrete STXC! I was doing well until i cramped. yea i said cramp. in a STXC! 30 min race! i was in 10th at the time of total destruction. I believe it was the meds i was on from being sick. I really dont know what it was but i was certainly nervous about the next days XC if i cramped in a STXC. The next days XC was a little muddy but the area was awesome. Sunshine, good temps and friendly faces.


The race went well. I got my second top 10 this season. it was a fun course. Some really steep stuff, really technical decents, and some power sections as well. I didnt cramp which was almost as good as getting the top 10. Bryan killed it getting 4th. After the race we started heading directly back to Boulder. Once again Danae killed it, this time uping the ante with the driving conditions set to daylight. Quote of the day "it doesnt matter how fast im going, im confortable driving this fast".....im sure that would go real well with the cops.

"But officer i was comfortable"


Danae's driving privlages were revoked after several near death experiences. Thats all she wrote.


now the great divide is something truly amazing. One one side it can be B.E.A. utiful and on the other side well not so much.




So once again let me reiterate this to you....THATS SNOW!!!!!!!!!! and its moving in a B-Line fashion towards Boulder. um....im scared.

So the rest of the week... Monday was spending time doing oh not that much except going to a Broncos game with Uncle Joe! that right uncle joe was in denver and was so kind enough to invite me to go to the broncos game against the used to be undefeated Ravens. after looking at the nights forcast it was time to buy a good rain jacket. Tonights forcast.....low 31 rain/snow. Well it didnt snow but it was definately raining and cold. However i had at least 20 to 30 layers on including my new rain coat which worked flawlessly. The game was a blast! Those guys are HUGE!!!!! i mean we had some killer seats, 6row on the 40 yard line.




Thanks Joe and Mandy for the great time! BTW i got the aspen classic pass!



On the way home i got a personal victory as well.


Tuesday was just an easy spin, followed by more easy rides with Bryan and Danae on Wed. Bryan decided that hes cool enough to pull off the T-Brown look.


We rode up the killer long 1/2 miles climb up to the weather research center. Did i mention that we did this climb twice? yea well I'm a badass so what can i say.


and a pic from the top of the world...eh...not so much. but still kicks ass.

Later i rode with Danae. Once again the scenery was miserable. We rode up to some park and rode up a dirt rode. that about it.



Thursday was pretty cool. With this weekends conference finals hosted by CU, the course is relatively close. So a team preride was arranged. We had an awesome turnout! The day was full of fun, slow climbing, fast decending and well...crashing.



It was bound to happen. I feel bad for her, but i had to let her take a fall by herself. I managed to pull and excelent save and not go down, however she had to take one for the team.

After barrel rolling for 10 yards Bryan came to a stop. His rig too took a hard hit.

And as for Danae...well, she just got back on her bike too fast as she saw me comming with my camera. She hit pretty hard as well.



Friday and today my parents have been in town. So i have been spending time with them. Bryan killed it in todays STXC that i missed, taking home the GOLD!!!! that right way to stick it to the FLC boys who seem to slaughter every weekend. I will be doing tomorrow....ehhh todays XC. The course is really techinical so we'll see what happens. Congrats to everyone that raced thus far in the weekend. Nick Martin and all those brave/crazy people doing the 24 hrs at Moab. J Sager killin it in the duathalon and mtn bike race on his home turf in Louisiana. And well wish me luck in a few hours. I need to get some sleep. Once again hope this made up for the lack of previous posts. Cya and happy racing to everyone.

On the Mend

Well I'd like to say that I'm officially on the mend. The last two days I've been putting in some good miles and getting a taste of what winter is going to be like. Apparently the mountains get too cold to really ride all the way up to the top and most people spend their time in the flatlands of Colorado. Well riding the flats is exactly what I have been doing. Wed. I found myself riding to Ft. Collins and back. Due to time/light constraints the ride turned into somewhat of a well... 80 miles TT of sorts. I went out kinda hard but found that the sun was setting faster than I anticipated. The ride itself was no biggie in terms of views etc. It was really just quality riding without the other stuff that makes riding fun.


However riding back had a somewhat nice view, too bad I was too blown to really enjoy it.


Yesterday Bryan and I decided to go on another long road ride. We ended up riding out to Carter Lake. It was a better ride than the previous days venture. Better roads, not as much traffic slightly less time constraint. Did I mention that T-Brown came along?

Oh wait that's just Bryan.

The ride was fun. I think I've made Bryan into a pro at the stop ahead sprints. However I still won due to my shenanigans...like sprinting when he has a bottle in his hand etc. The ride going well and I was getting excited about seeing the infamous Carter Lake.

But uh....I was expecting something a little better than this:


We headed down to the boat ramp to see where the party was at but didn't find much..


Bryan got sooo excited he blew snot all over himself while he was on the phone with his mom telling her how awesome Carter Lake was:


The ride home was filled with more sprints and of course my biweekly bloody nose. It was quite a romantic ride home. Even though Bryan took us the back way with the most stop ahead signs...jackass!


On my way in the door I saw the little devils that lurk in the night all around my dorm.



This weekend is Grand Junction. I'm still on antibiotics but feeling much better. Hopefully it will be more fun than the past two weekends. Alright well I'll update when I get back.

a real post

Well now that im feeling somewhat back to normal ive been doing some somewhat normal things again like say.......riding! Yesterday me and Bryan hit Hall Ranch for some quality mtn. biking. Now this might not be the best mtn biking in the Boulder area but for some reason i love this trail. It has really technical climbing in it, regular singletrack climbing then some really fast descents followed by the technical descending you climbed in the beginning. I still havent figured it out but for some reason i love this ride!



During our descent Bryan stumbled accross some major carnage:

Overall we had a great time....in fact we had so much fun we got Danae to take us back.

sooooo. Today was just as much fun as yesterday! Right Bryan?

Danae gettin'er done:

And again i got my discovery picture fix for the day with our little furry friends:


After the ride it was time for Dinner. Now this dorm stuff i've had enough of. Pasta and tater tots can only go for so long. so tonight was the night in which we decided to go all out. Tonights menu was cordan bleu with asparagus, rice and french garlic bread. alright!!!!

Danae getting her cook on:



and finally the greatest meal of my life since i arrived in Boulder:


well im out.im full and ready to go to bed. later.

This isn't the new norm

So lately i have been really sick, really stressed and overall really busy. I have been sick for over 11 days now. Im finally getting better after seeing the doctor on friday.


The antibiotics and whatever else they gave me make me feel kinda funny and dehydrated but at least i can think. Last week was a nightmare. 3 midterms and i was feeling like crap. I missed the Durango race. This weekend i made it up to Wyoming for the race but was forced to pull the plug during lap one. My heart was ready to explode and i was hacking up a storm. CU came through though to pull out 1st, 2nd, and 4th no thanks to me. This morning was short track. I hung in there finishing mid pack in a pretty small group. Again the big boys got'r done with 1st, 2nd and 6th i believe. Major props to those that raced well this weekend there are too many names to list. Of course my result didn't count because i didn't have "legal" shorts on and i got DQ'd. Thats just BS. I mean i know cycling has so many people in it that we should DQ for shorts. Also i know that the sponsors are making bank off of guys like me sporting their logo. riiiiiight. So besides getting really down on not being able to perform for the 2nd week now im definitely ready to be over with it and get back to riding. The hunger is back as some would like to say.

Today me and bryan went to Research Park to mess around and shoot the shit.

After busting my ass doing a wheelie we decided to call it a day.

Sorry for the lack of pictures and updates but hopefully some will have the slightest of pity and keep reading. Ill be back up and running soon i hope. Lets hope these antibiotics do what their meant to do.