Record Setter.

It only took 4 and half years of college, but I finally just wrote a paper all night, and I've just now finished it at 5:45. Class is at 8, so I guess I'll go watch a few episodes of The Office (BBC version) and go print it off.

A report was received at 11:33 a.m. Tuesday that a man was walking along Burleigh Street with swords. Authorities discovered he was walking home from the pawn shop.

Quick new feature.

So.

The newspaper in the town I grew up in had a daily feature called the daily record. It's a summary of all the police reports from the following day or few days. Every day, people in Yankton, South Dakota wake up, eat their breakfast or drink their coffee, and read about who got into car wrecks, or who got arrested over the past few days. Tuesday's are always the best because it encompasses the whole weekend. Lately I've been reading the Daily Record online at www.yankton.net and I think it would be a shame if I didn't post the best of the daily findings on here. Last week it was a couple of kids found "having relations" in a parked car. Historically the holiday season has brought some good ones. I remember the police being called to a dispute between two neighbors on the 2100 block of Douglas one year because the neighbors were about to fight because one neighbor had supposedly "copied" the other's Christmas decorations. This week we have another great holiday installment.

A report was received at 7:38 p.m. Thursday of a van parked in the 1800 block of Peninah with a man leaning out the door and vomiting. The driver told authorities he had eaten too much turkey.

I'll try to keep up with the good ones, and maybe I'll have some race reports soon too.

Last weekend race wasn't so great. I hung in the top ten until 2 to go, and ended up 11th or 12th. Hopefully this weekend will bring better things.

The Last Few Weeks.

I haven't been too good about keeping up on this. Oh well, maybe Thanksgiving break will give me a little chance to catch up.

My mom was here for the weekend to watch some cross races, so I tried to put on a good show, but it didn't really work out on Saturday. The race was in Louisville, at the rec center. It was a great course, and I had a good start, top 3-5 for the first 3 laps, but then my legs quit turning over, and my mind turned to mush for about the next 4 laps. I finally got into a good little group of 4, and we worked well together. Actually I mostly sat in. The group got reduced to 3 by the end, and I took 3rd out of it for 9th overall. There was an uphill double barrier with a 90 degree before and after it, that I kept trying to hop in my warm up. I got it maybe once all morning, and tried it a few times in the race which was pretty ugly. I did get over it on the final lap, but I think I lost about 5 seconds even when I cleared it.

Sunday's race was at the State Patrol Training Facility on top of South Table Mesa in Golden. The course was super flat, with some fun corners you could really rail, and a single barrier on a fast smooth road, as well as a couple technical barrier sections and a lot of road. Once again I had a good start, but got caught up in some guys rear wheel when he missed his clip in after a barrier section. I chased a little, and found myself in the top 4, which soon turned into the lead group. Three of us traded pulls with one guy pretty much content to sit in. I was hopping the single barrier every lap, and they weren't so I got to rest this really rough section and pick my own lines, then I'd be able to catch back up over the barrier every lap. With about 3 to go, Chris Case attacked and got a good gap with the eventual winner. Mike Hall and I chased for a lap, and got them back and then I attacked with 1 to go. I thought I got reeled in, but when I looked over my shoulder, it was just one guy and he flew by me. I tried to grab his wheel, but couldn't and eventually got reeled back into the chase. Chris Case dropped his chain and Mike Hall and I finished the lap out together. I thought I'd have the sprint sealed up if I led through the last corner, so I just tried to hit out of every corner hard so see if I could gap him out, but I couldn't and sure enough, he came right around me at the line.

I'm happy with third, but there are a lot of things I should have done differently. Oh well, live and learn. It was fun to have a good race with my mom there. I think she had the whole crowd cheering for me. Thanks to everyone for cheering loud, it helps, and thanks to Dave Towle for saying my name about a hundred and fifty times. Now I have a test to study for. I'll hopefully have some pictures of the races soon. Thanks for checking in.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. First off we have me with Allez (Koch's dog note my beard), next is a black and white photo from the Boulder CX race at Interlocken Park, and last are a couple shots from the Reservoir last Sunday afternoon. The race last weekend started off alright, and then kind've faded. Hopefully this weekend I won't ride so stupid in the latter half of the race. USGP Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm in Longmont and Boulder respectively. Hope to see you there. Thanks for checking in.