A devil of a ride.

There is red dirt on the tires and that can only mean one thing. I packed my most precious belongings and headed west to the Devil's Backbone this afternoon. I moped around all afternoon because I couldn't find anyone that had the same desire to go get pounded around on this 8 mile piece of technical rocky trail that I've grown to love in my three years here in Colorado. Finally at 4pm I realized I didn't need anyone to share this one with, I'm fully capable of enjoying the "Boner" as its affectionately called, all by myself. I rode the trail out to the loop at a leisurely pace, but lit the afterburners once I hit the technical climb that starts the back loop. I realized this weekend in Laramie that I wasn't feeling too good on the rough, rocky parts of the course, so I figured there is no better place to hone this skills than the infamous back loop of the Backbone. I rode two laps in the standard clockwise direction, then just as I was getting tired and hungry I switched it up and did a lap in the counter-clockwise direction. It's funny, I can't count how many times I've ridden this trail, but I think this was the 2nd or 3rd time I did the loop counter-clockwise. It's like a whole new trail riding it backwards and it was exactly what I needed. Since I'm not too good about previewing race courses, I'm usually cross eyed with my tongue hanging out when I see everything for the first time in a year (assuming I've raced the course before). I wasn't quite as wiped out as I would have been in a race situation, but I definitely saw my technical skills spiral down the toilet bowl as I hit the first few rocky parts of the trail. I managed to keep the rubber side down all day, although I found myself doing a handstand at one point with my bike behind me upside down, feet clipped in, balancing on my front wheel, bar ends, and hands. I suppose that isn't exactly rubber side down, but I came out of the situation better then my friend and former teamate Danny who I once saw leave a blood spot on the very rock I was doing my handstand on. I rode a few parts that I usually don't make, but I also screwed up a lot of stuff that is usually pretty rideable. Oh well, I'm glad I went, maybe this will be a new Monday afternoon tradition. I managed to take a ton of pictures so I thought I'd share a few with you as well as a quick description of each. Here we go.

Pulling into the parking lot you are greeted with a view of the Backbone itself shadowed by the majestic Rocky Mountains.

The Backbone disapears behind a hill as you start the trail, but quickly comes into view as you round this corner.

The trail winds along beside the rock formation and through this meadow. I really like this part of the trail, especially on the way back because its slightly downhill with some cool little ups and downs.

After the traversing the length of the Backbone (which is a very unique and interesting feature geologically, I'd be glad to explain it's formation if anyone is interested, but I'm not counting on much interest from the readers of this site), the trail crosses the meadow and heads up this hill with a few steep loose switchbacks.

The view from the top of the first section of climb.

This section used to freak me out because it seems like if you fall to the left you'll just keep picking up speed until the barbed wire a hundred feet down or so.

The view from the actual top.

Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there is still time to ride the loop one direction then flip it and ride it the other way.
One of the first really fun rocky parts.

The view from the urinal.




More rocky fun.

Man, that was a lot of pictures. Sorry, some of them towards the end got a little blurry because my camera was flying unwrapped in my jersey and got a little sweaty. Oh well, this is one of my favorite trails and the pictures don't do it justice. I had one of those rides today that reminded me of the reasons I started mountain biking back in grade school. I remember the feeling of flying down Smudy Bear with some of my closest friends back in the early days, and it's those feelings that make me get out on my bike and ride until I can't see straight. Mountain biking is one of the most physically demanding things I've ever done, but it's not the competition that gets me out on my bike, I really can't explain why I do it, I guess you have to ride a trail you really love to fully understand why simply pedaling around on a bunch of rocks and dirt gets my blood flowing the way it does. I leave you with a parting shot, and ride the boner if you ever get the chance, you'll probably hate it, but oh well I like it.


P.S. I wasn't even tired after the ride so I went and big ringed Towers Road like 8 times.

Just for Stever

I don't think it's Pikes Peak, looks like Bill owens made a pretty easy 25k. I wish I was a governor so someone would mail me thousands of dollars for no real reason at all.

"Your life must suck"

Alright, you all knew I was a dork, so this shouldn't really come as a surprise. I got the new Oregon quarter today! Yeah, that's right, I've got all of the Statehood Quarters that have been released yet. I'm not sure if Kansas is out yet or not, but I haven't see one. Anyway, I'd be happy to show you the collection if you are interested.

Well, that's about the extent of the excitement of my day. I got 5th in ST today after not finishing yesterday due to a little pedal crankshaft interface problem (I hit my pedal on a rock really hard and it came off). Today was fun though and now I don't race for two weeks, but I will be able to do the Aims Cyclocross rides so I'm pretty fired up about that. I've never raced cross before, or even done an official cross ride so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm gonna try to fit one in Tuesday, but the ride is at 4:00 and I have class at 5:15 so it could be hard to squeeze in. I won't bore you anymore with the bike stuff for today.

Thanks to the incredible lack of response to Friday's update, I won't be handing out any CD's since Scott is the only one who responded and he's already informed me that he already had both the Hanson, and 'N Sync CD's.

*News Flash* This just in, I found out that the Kansas quarter was revealed in Lawrence, Kansas at the Kansas State Fair on Friday, September 9th. It will be hitting the banks soon. If anyone sees one or has one drop me a line, I'll give you 20 cents for it.

Thats all for now, thanks for suffering through this. I'll leave you with a parting shot of the newest member of my collection.

Gearing up for tomorrow

I'm busy getting my stuff ready for the race tomorrow, wanna see what one day of racing requires?

First off is survival gear, we're talking fall in Wyoming, could be cold so coffee and the faux Carhartt are a must.


Next we have the bike which is possibly the most important piece of equipment. P.S. I hate Avid BB5 brakes.


Now we'll hit the items I need to make sure my bike runs all the way to the finish.


And now the stuff to make sure I make it all the way to the finish.


Now for what I'll be wearing. Red is the name of the game when it comes to race attire. Start with the red Six Six One Raji gloves, red Defeet knee and arm warmers, as well as red Defeet shoe covers (not a chance I'll wear them), the red, white, blue, and yellow Cofidis colored Giro Atmos helmet, as well as yellow Specialized shoes, UNC bibs and jersey, blue Oakley Half-Jackets (with the ever so important clear lenses) and finally the tall black wool socks which I haven't raced without in over a year, and just to silence all you critics, it has nothing to do with Lance, I actually first saw and liked the tall black when I saw it on Geoff Kabush so I unveiled them at the New Belgium Criterium last June.


The final touch to my suitcase is the paperwork stuff involved in running a team, ok, there isn't that much.


So, hopefully I can fit this all into my Mountainsmith bag that I was informed today, really isn't that cool. Oh well, since I started writing this I've remembered two things that I left out. I'm thinking this would be a good chance to have a Wenzelesque contest. The person who can name one or both of the items I've forgotten will be given a burned copy of 'N Sync - No Strings Attached, or Hanson - This Time Around, winners choice. Like I said, there are two items so you have a chance to win both CD's. I guess that's all for now.

One more interesting note...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/09/15/zellweger.chesney.reut/index.html

"fraud" we all knew he was gay, I don't think that's fraudulent?

I'm out.

Pinky to the Rescue

Off to Double You Why oming this weekend, Laramie to be exact. I'm a little disapointed in the lack of a team we have this year. It looks like it's going to be my and one other kid. That photo is of the XC race in Wyoming two years ago. I had managed to flat, and strip a pedal out of my crank within a lap and a half of the Short Track the day before, and had to have a spare bike rushed to me in time for the XC the next day. I made due with Pinky and our relationship has never looked back. She's hanging in my bike room just waiting for a sealed headset, but the way I see it, unless I need her to rescue me again, I have until June to get that headset in. With that being said I'll probably get bored and put it in next week, as well as a new cable set and drive train clean. She deserves some TLC and since I usually find a bike to work on rather than read or do something I need to do like laundry. Tonight I rebuilt the rear hub and freehub on my road wheels. Not that they needed it, I just wanted to mess with it more then anything. Anyway, I'm gonna go read for a minute or two before I go to bed. Thanks to all 5 of you who read this yesterday. Who knows, by next week there could be 6-7 people reading this, it's amazing what is capable with the World Wide Web at your fingertips. I promise there will be something interesting in my next update, if nothing happens to be between then and now, I'll make something up.

Beaver

Alright, I'm back. After much pleading from the 3 people that actually check this site, I decided it was time to get back on the horse. This weekend kicked off the collegiate mountain bike season after 10 months of hiatus. The Beaver Meadows short track (and the infamous rock jump) have become one of the many signs of fall for a select few of us here at UNC. I headed up to Red Feather Lakes Saturday morning with my good buddy Justin knowing the race was going to hurt... bad... and probably be a pretty embarassing event overall. I also knew that getting completely worked was the only way to dive into the racing season. I'd made a plan with Scott (who also made the trip to see my puke face) that I'd get the whole shot, and be the first to jump the rock on the right of the traditional mud puddle. The whole shot when as planned, well lets just say I'd moved into first by the rock. I tried to get some air over it, but since my eyes were already crossed and the black spots were starting to appear I don't think I actually got that much. I slowly drifted back during the next 2 or 3 laps and watched Ft. Lewis rider after Ft. Lewis rider pass me before I finally settled into 6th or 7th. I finished right there after holding off another late surging pair from Ft. Lewis. Overall I can't complain, although I'd rather not be tasting blood on the second lap, and it would be nice to be competitive like I've been there in the past. Oh well, thats what a summer of laziness and gluttony will do for you. Nicky was there to congratulate me at the finish which was awesome since she's one of my biggest role models in the cycling world.

After the race Justin and I rode one of my favorite rides around the Ft. Collins area, "A" trail up to Shoreline, and down Micheod, I think I spelled that wrong, but it doesn't matter since I totally missed the trail and we ended up coming down some new ultra knarly, steep, rocky, switchback descent that dropped us down behind some water plant. It was a really fun ride, truly Coloradorific as Justin said. It did get a little hot, but Justin was sure to show me proper "cool off" technique.

Well, I should try and keep this short so maybe I'll end up hitting this two days in a row. If anyone actually reads this leave a comment and let me know who you are and what you're up to. Thanks for coming down this weekend Justin, I had a lot of fun, and thanks to Scott and Nicky for making the trip up to watch me get throttled.

I wonder if my new tire came in yet, and if it did, I wonder if Scott wants to MTB today?

Steve spilled the lotion!

Uh Oh
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Hey, so much for two updates in a row, and guess what, the next one is already a few days out. Oh well.

I've been busy moving the past few days so I haven't found time to update, although in the process of stalling I've found time to do about everything else I can think of. I've realized this week, that I have a lot of trouble accomplishing goals when I'm not under a strict timeline. I started moving on Monday I think and now on Thursday I still have a load or two left. Oh well, there is no rush so I guess I'm not going to rush. My new apartment is pretty cool and I started setting up the bike room tonight so I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be sure and get an entire photo album up once I get all moved in. I'm thinking about building a bedroom set and some stuff for the living room. Until I figure all that out it's going to seem pretty empty. Nothing else really exciting happening that I'm allowed to talk about just yet, but I'll have a very interesting update for you next week. Stay tuned.

-Corey

I'm still alive

What a view
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Man, it seems like years ago that Mark and I were setting out on our adventure. This is a picture from the first day when we were leaving Telluride. Although our trip turned into a car camping adventure, we still managed to have a lot of fun, and I would do it again in a second if I had the chance.

A lot has happened since I updated last, Justin came out and joined us for a few awesome days in Winter Park, then took Mark back to Y-town. I followed a few days later to celebrate our nation's independence. My parents had a little shin-dig on the fourth then we all headed to the river to watch the city firework show. After that a bunch of my friends came out for a campfire and some tent camping at my newly restored firepit. I ended up heading back to Greeley on the 6th, and I've been here ever since.

Some of you may have heard I was considering a little break from school this coming year. I was even in the process of lining up a job in Moab, UT at one of the nations premier bike shops. While I was home, my parents "talked a little sense (cents) into me" and I decided it wasn't in my best interest to put school on the back burner just yet.

I stumbled across an apartment as soon as I got back and just signed the lease yesterday. It's in an awesome old house that was built in 1905 in the Meeker Historical District. The landlord lives across the street and used to teach at UNC. I move in on Wednesday, so I'll have to try and get some pictures of it for ya'll soon.

I've figured out my class schedule for fall for a business management major and I'm in the process of registering right now. I'll have to green card into one class so hopefully that doesn't prove to be a problem, but I've had pretty good luck getting into classes in the past.

On the bright side of this all, I get to continue racing my bike at UNC, and I've actually been riding lately, so we might see something great if I'm actually in shape at the beginning of mountain bike season. It's pretty freakin hot here though, so riding isn't always exactly enjoyable, but it's been a great way for me to escape and get my mind off everything for a few hours everyday, even if it does mean drinkink 8 or 9 bottles of water over a 3 or 4 hour ride. I climbed up to Estes Park the day before yesterday, and today I have this itch to ride Rist Canyon in Ft. Collins. I've never been there before, but I hear it's a great climb. Maybe I can look for a bed while I'm there.

Thats all for now, since all I have to do lately is pack and ride, maybe I'll try and hit two updates in a row. We'll see tomorrow.

P.S. if anyone in the Greeley area is free on Friday I'm in need of a favor, had someone lined up, but they found something better to do.

Slight Change In Plans

Whew, another whirlwind week. If you would have told me a week ago as I was setting out on the San Juan Huts that I would now be in Arizona I never would have believed you, but as life so often does, Mark and I were thrown a curveball on the third leg of our trip.

The first leg from Telluride to Last Dollar Hut was a bit of a curveball. As we looked at the description it read that we would be riding 14.7 miles on gravel roads. Being that hardcore mountain biker that I am I was a little disapointed, but sucked it up and decided we should leave by noon or so, so we would get to the hut early afternoon and hang out there for a while. Well, we left about 12:15 with fully loaded B.O.B. trailers that weighed twice the amount I thought they would, and as soon as we left Telluride we started climbing, up past the Airport thats on a huge mesa and up to the top of Last Dollar Pass. That little 14.7 miles ended up taking us about 5 hours.

The views from the top were breathtaking and we got some good pictures. The next day we were treated to a nice fat descent and then another 20 miles of rolling gravel. The second hut was awesome as well, nestled in some aspen trees just off a forest access road.

We set off on the third day for 33.1 miles of up and then down, ending at the same altitude we started at. By mile 2 or 3 it started misting, mile 5 it was raining, mile 7 the snow started and by the time we had climbed up to mile 9 it was nearly a soaking wet white out. Since we were only a little over a fourth of the way through the route, still climbing, and couldn't feel many appendages, we made the call and flipped it back to the hut we had come from. Now, for any of you who have ever gotten really cold on a climb, the descent is guarenteed to be twice as bad. I know that Scott is familiar with this phenomena because we almost died on HWY 34 descending from Estes last spring. So Mark and I made it to the hut, made a fire, warmed up a little, dried out all the clothes we'd been wearing, and sat inside as it continued to rain, snow, and sleet, the rest of the day.

The next morning we left really early and headed for Telluride. We rode about 15 miles of gravel back to HWY 62, descended 10 miles to Placerville, CO. then climbed 16 long steep miles back to Telluride up HWY 145? I think. We got into town to find all the campgrounds were full, so we drove on to Durango, for a day before we decided to go spend a few days in Phoenix with my favorite Aunt Brenda, and wonderful Uncle Dave. We had a blast there, and now we're in Flagstaff to do some riding before heading on to the Grand Canyon and then Moab later tonight.

Thats my last week, if any of you actually read this far, please leave a comment at the end and you will be given a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut because I'm pretty sure this marathon update will cover all of the stars you needed for the month. I'll try to check in again soon.

We're really doing it Harry!

Last night Mark and I took off from Greeley around 5pm, made it to the Flagship REI store in Denver and maxed out both of our credit cards (not really but close), then hopped on I-70 and crossed the Rockies to end our day at the Colorado River State Park Island Acres just outside of Grand Junction. Our first night in the tent went without a hitch and we woke up to a great view of the Colorado river and surrounding red and orange cliffs. Right now I'm sitting in the Grand Junction Public Library and Mark is outside on his phone. We're off to Telluride to hopefully get the final revisions of our huts course and try to get a mountain bike ride in before returning to the tent for night number 2. We'll try to find a computer in Telluride to let you know how Marks first off ride bike ride goes. Stay tuned.

Corey's Fro

Corey's Fro
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Mark's Hawk

Mark's Hawk
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Hello Everyone. I am guest writing for Corey today, and yes, that's me with the hawk. Today we are leaving for Telluride and getting this adventure off on the right foot. Yesterday I was looking at my hair, and decided... I need a Mohawk to truly be a rockstar, so master cutter Corey took the wheel and crafted the best mohawk I have ever seen. After the haircut, I considered donating the leftover hair to a cancer cause, when suddenely I had a revelation... with the help of my leftover hair, Corey would make a great Angus Young (AC/DC guitarist) look-alike. So now, Corey and I have become true rockstars, with not only the lifestyle, but the looks to accompany.
Last night, Corey and I had a little Greeley send off party at Jackson's. Scott, Kari, and Jordan joined us for some brews and long islands... only appropriate for a true rockstar send-off. Today, we are packing, making some final bike ajustments and eating Taco Johns for the 4th or 5th day in a row. We are stopping in Denver and Boulder before we head to Telluride to disembark from civilization for a month. To everyone reading, thank you... and for those about to rock... We Salute You.

MARCOR summer adventure day 1

Hey Everyone,

I'm updating from Marks house as we put the final few things together to take off on our trip. After a little packing, lunch with Lay Z and a little preening of my house, we will depart on the first leg of our journey. The trip today takes us through colorful Nebraska (home of arbor day) into beautiful eastern Colorado, and finally to the smelly little place I like to call home, Greeley, Colorado. We're hoping to get there in time to suck down a slurpee at the Rio before bed, but the way things are falling into place, it looks like that may have to wait for tomorrow.

The next few days we'll be in Greeley, hopefully getting some quality riding in during the day, and trying to to get thrown out of Roasties at night. Its been a fun few weeks here in Y-Town but it will be great to see some of the Greeley people for a few days before we hit the trails.

Latest trip update, we'll be departing Telluride on June 8th, not June 6th as originally expected. I guess there was some confusion in the reservations, but it all worked out because I got to stay an extra couple days in YKT and hang out with a few new friends.

So, in closing, to all of you in Yankton... farewell, thank you for a wonderful week home. To all of you in Greeley... beware, rockstars on the loose.

P.S. the last entry wasn't lost, there was just nothing more to say.

ROCKSTARS!

Hail Storm

Hail Storm
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

So, last week we had a heck of a hail storm here in Greeley. The picture is of a few hail stones I found in the grass and a AAA battery for reference. It actually made me a little homesick because I remember this type of storm happening quite frequently the first spring we were in S.F. I also remember re-shingling a few houses in S.F. because of those hail storms. Anyway, you know my life has hit a low point when I'm talking about the weather on my webpage.

School got out a week ago and since then life has been pretty low-key. I've been working quite regularly at the bike shop, but no longer at the Rio. That gig is done until I'm done with my bike trip in June. For those of you who don't know, I'm going on a month long trip in June with my homeboy Mark from SoDak, word has it Justin might make it out for a week while we're in Moab. That would be awesome, in all honestly the whole thing makes me get all stir crazy everytime I think about it because I'm so excited to get on the trail.

I went mountain biking today with my roomate Scott, a kid from south of the border named Ray, Mike, and Jenn his wife. We had a blast and finished it off with some burgers and beers at Coopersmiths in Old Town Fort Collins. For those of you who haven't been there, you should get there because it was really good, but I think that every burger and beer I've ever had after a ride was "really good" so maybe save yourself the trip, go for a mountain bike ride, then eat a burger and drink a beer, I promise you'll love it.

Moving on, my friends are starting to trickle back into the states from Europe so if you aren't back yet I wish you a safe trip, but to all of you, I can't wait to get back to town to see ya'll. I miss hanging out with everybody from home, other then a few weekends with Bob, I haven't seen any of the Yankton crew since summer. In other personal news I've been hanging out with a very nice girl named Jenny a little lately so I'll keep you all posted as to where that goes. I hope this post finds you all well and I apologize that it has taken me this long to get a real news entry up on here.

Thanks Steve for the encouragement, and to the hater, find something better to do, chances are I don't like you even more then you dislike me.

That's all,
Corey

Trials Trials Trials

P1010013
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Betcha I can swim across the pool underwater

Betcha I can swim across the pool underwater
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Another great weekend of traveling in the books. The racing still isn't the greatest in the world although we're showing steps in the right direction. I got ninth in the crit just behind my team/roomate Scotty Boy. We worked really well together patrolling the front and pulling back a break with a kid from CU and Mines. It was fun to feel like I made a difference in the race. Other then that this past week has sucked, everyone seems to be mad at me for some reason or another, but I'm just trying to brush it off and get my stuff done. I have talked to some people that I don't get to talk to that often so that's helped out a lot. I'm sitting here waiting for a girl from my spanish class to call so we can finish our presentation, but it doesn't look like she's gonna call tonight. I suppose somehow it must be my fault for procrastinating though. On the bright side, once again we got to swim in Grand Junction, this is getting to be a tradition we swam in an outdoor pool last mountain season in September or October, and now this Spring we got to in mid-April. April 24 has passed now, but I always remember a few years ago on April 24th when Mark, Scott Lingor (mono at that time) and I headed out for some early season wakeboarding in 50 degree temps and 39 degree water. It was cold and miserable, but the BS front flip was invented that day, although we all know it is now the BC front flip. Well, I think I'll just hit the sack and hope we can do this presentation another time. Thanks for reading.

Quick survey, do you readers think I should teach or run a bike shop? Your logic and reasoning is also helpful.

Who are you?

P1010031
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

This was me rockin out to The Who about 5 minutes from home after a long day on the bike and in the car, I bet you never knew I'm gonna be a drummer someday?

Mikeal in the car behind me

P1010014
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Its been a while again

Oval Sprint
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

This picture is pretty old, March 27th to be exact. Thats me in the red helmet. I just got back from Durango Sunday night after a super hard weekend of racing. We had a Team Time Trial on Sat. morning and we killed it. Our team was Scott and I and a couple of the B guys from our team, Mikeal and Nick, so I was curious to see how it would go, but we averaged over 40kms an hour over the rolling 30km course. I was lucky enough to be on the front when we caught our 1 minute team which was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced on a bike. We blew past them on this little false flat thing and I even got to yell at them to get out of the way. The crit was a little sketchy, but CU once again crapped out and pulled their whole team, so we had to do 2 20 minute heats and a 30 minute final. I didn't make the final, but Scott did and after watching it, I'm actually a little grateful that I didn't make it, it was super super fast. Sunday was the infamous Ft. Lewis Circuit Race that scales the front hill to campus 10 times. I'm guessing its about a 500ft gain each lap, plus a couple other small climbs on the back of the lap, so probably close to 6,000 ft of climbing over 50-55 miles of fast fast racing. Needless to say I didn't stay with the lead group long. I actually felt descent the first 5 or 6 times up the hill, but I cracked on a little climb on the backside of the 6th lap and limped in alone from there. This was the first time I've finished this race so I was happy about that, but how good can it feel to be the last finisher? Oh well, Now I just need to finish off the school year, we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I can get a couple car ride pictures up from the way home, 7.5 hours in the car can make you crazy.

Mi otra bicicleta nueva

Cross Bike
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Hey, it hasn't taken two weeks to get back this time. This week flew by once again, finals will be here all too soon and I'm not ready for them. I guess I've felt like the every semester I've been in school though. This picture is my new cross bike that I traded my MTB wheels for. It's a Surly Cross Check frame that was painted a chameleon? color. It's got this cool gadget that screws into the hub where the free hub is supposed to go and allows you to put a freewheel or fixed gear cog on it. It also has some awesome Race Face cranks that I just learned are prototypes that never made it into production. I've only had this bike a week or two, but I'm already in love with it, I know now why people get all gooned out about Surly.

I raced this morning in Boulder, well actually Superior. It was the Koppenburg Circuit Race, and although I would imagine the real Tour of Flanders is harder in Belgium, it can't be that much worse. I suffered all day. It was a really fast first mile on dirt to get to this 17% dirt climb that was really short, but 17% none the less. After that the race got really fast as the selection was made coming over the hill and the rest of the 110 person field was trying to chase back on. I chased really hard at this point all the way back to the start line where the dirt started again, but it was to no avail. The rest of the race was fast and hurt, but I felt good suffering on the bike for once. Maybe my racing legs are on their way back. I think thats all for now, maybe I'll get back to a daily update. Thanks for reading, and no you can't ride my bike.

One of my new steeds

The Blue Beast
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Wow,

Once again its been a couple weeks since I've updated. I think I'm behind in about every aspect of my life. Anyway, if anyone is waiting for a phone call from me, you might as well just give me a call because I probably don't remember. I've been working pretty much everyday at the bike shop and keeping pretty busy there. Today I worked 4 hours there, headed to a meeting at the Rio, then worked from 4:30 to 12:00 there. I made $80 though which is the most I've ever made in a night, so I was pretty pumped about that.

Since I've last updated a lot has happened. Friday, March 18 I was working at the Rio, when some guy passed out in the bar, (not because he was drinking, he had a some wierd condition), but thats beside the point, I was trying to clear the stuff off the table that he had fallen on, when some lady tugged on my arm. I almost snapped at her and told her to leave me alone, when she said, "its pretty bad when you drive all the way from South Dakota to surprise your son and now your dad has to play doctor when we get here." I looked at her and realized it was my mom and my dad is over taking this guys pulse and tending to him sitting on the floor. So... moral of the story, my parents drove out to surprise me for my birthday. They watched my race and saw me get pounded into the ground, the we went out at midnight and they got to watch me drink my first beer.

Last weekend I raced in Ft. Collins and it went much better. I ended up 12th, then we mountain biking with my manager Christie and her husband Jeff. This leads me to my first new bike. During the week I traded a guy my MTB wheels for a single speed cyclo-cross bike. It's pretty cool and so far I love it. I rode it off road that day in Ft. Collins and kept up with Jeff on all the decents and he was on a full suspension mountain bike.

This week I finally finished my fixed gear bike. I just got it done today and put a picture of it up for all of you to look at. I can't think of anything else to write, plus I'm tired of typing so thats all for now. Tomorrow I'll try and get a pic of my cross bike up.

I guess I'm getting lazy

Can't believe that it has been a week since I've updated. I'm sure some of you were getting pretty upset not having my happenings greet you when you turn on your computer in the morning, then again I'm sure some of you could really care less. Probably more of you fall into the latter category, but you're reading this and I'm definitely not making you, that must mean something.

Alright, enough rambling. My parents came last Wednesday afternoon and I picked them up from the airport without incident. I always feel good about myself when I can do them a favor like pick them up and drive them around, even if they are visiting me, it's just a good feeling knowing that for once I'm showing them around. Unfortunately my little Subaru that I thought would just run until the wheels fell off decided it's time for a new motor. On the way to and from the airport I noticed a little ticking, my dad also noticed it so we stopped at the Subaru dealer on our way into town. Turns out it was the main bearing and its new motor time. It really was a mood killer, but after we all got over it, we met up with Jordan who was nice enough to offer her car for the evening, then after some fajitas and quesadillas at the Rio we headed back down to Denver to see Pat Metheny. He's an amazing jazz guitarist and the concert was awesome. I don't think Jordan was really as impressed, but this is the music I grew up hearing on car trips, nothing like some sass jazz to spark memories of being with my dad.

The rest of the week was spent touring Greeley. We toured book stores and bike shops, hung out at my apartment, then on Friday we headed down to Denver to spend some time at Cherry Creek mall, and see some of the sights before my mom flew out Saturday a.m. I got to spend all of Saturday with my dad which was a lot of fun. It seems like its been forever since we just hung out and relaxed together. Not that I don't enjoy pouring cement or stacking block with him, but it was just fun to hang out and shoot the breeze. We spent a few hours at the REI flagship store, walked around the 16th street mall, ate at a little pub type restaurant and drove Lookout Mountaing before making one last stop at Chili's on our way back to the airport.

After they left my apartment seemed pretty empty, for a while, but I'm used to being alone here again. I finished training to wait and worked my first shift last night. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a very good waiter right now, but hopefully that will be changing in the next week or two. I have another shift tomorrow night, we'll see how that goes. I made another bolo tie out of a pop can that is pretty cool, not sure if I'll unveil it quite yet.

I worked at Steve's today before heading to Boulder to get my newest Rocky Mounts stuff. It seems like they just keep giving and giving. Hopefully I can ride fast enough to make them feel like they got their money's worth out of me. I got a couple awesome pairs of shoes, more gu, and some gu2o drink stuff, as well as a couple bottles, and another team kit.

I apologize that I just wrote that much, I really can't believe I did. I must be bored from Spring Break. School better start back up before I go nuts.

Can I get you some pizza shooters or extreme fajitas?

Team Rio
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I had my first training shift tonight. It was pretty fun. It's gonna take a little getting used to, but waiting is way easier then busing I think. We were pretty busy for a while tonight and the kid that trained me made 60 bucks on a Tuesday night, so that's promising. I have to wear a bolo tie, so I borrowed one from my buddy Matt, but I taped the old Schwinn headbadge from my Homegrown onto it. It looks pretty cool, maybe I'll get a picture of it on here soon, if not stop in the Rio on Monday morning and you'll be sure to see it. Next week is Spring Break, so if all goes as planned I might get a little MTB action in, possibly a trip to Fruita or Moab? My parents get here tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be able to find some stuff to do around Greeley for a few days. I don't want to bore them to death, but G-town is a pretty happening place these days. I'll be able to kill the better part of a day taking them around to my work places. I've seen my mom after the neck of a beer, I wonder what a Rio Grande marg will do to her?

12 days until I can start waiting tables.

Clean Cut

I finally gave in. Last night I was laying in bed, and couldn't stop itching my face so I decided it was time to lose the scruff. It feels pretty good now, but I guess replacing whiskers with razor burn isn't the best trade off? Oh well, it looks better and I need to be tip top tonight. I have my first wait training shift tonight at the Rio, so hopefully I don't freak out and have a melt down in the midst of waiting tables. I think I'll be fine, last night was taking orders and stuff because we were slow and all the servers were being really lazy. I've got espanol today, then I'm going to go work a few hours at Steve's. Hopefully there will be something interesting to do there. I learned how to face disc brake tabs last time I worked, so that was interesting. I worked a few hours at iBike yesterday, I was saying to Mike that its getting pretty confusing answering the phone and remember what to say, whether its "Thank you for calling the Rio, this is Corey" or "Roubaix Bicycle Company, this is Corey" or "International Bike, this is Corey" then there are closing times that everyone on the phone wants to know, the Rio is 9 or 10 depending on the night, Roubaix is 5, and iBike is 6. I'm really a pretty smart kid so its not that hard. So, other the school and work there isn't a whole lot going on in the life of Corey Carlson. I did make some nasty comments on my roomates webpage about being dirty and whatnot, and man, it sure doesn't take long for your true enemies to come out! Oh well, I think I'll survive. I better go hit the showers before class. I hope you all have a great morning, and if I don't see you again, have a good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

New Job

I got a new job this week, so school, job, and job have been keeping me fairly busy. I kind've stumbled upon a job working on bikes at The Roubaix Bicycle Company here in Greeley. Steve the mechanic there is a great guy and very fun to work with. I've worked there the past 3 days, they are closed Sunday and Monday, but I'm hosting at the Rio both days. Fun Fun!! Other big news on the homefront, there is a good chance I'll be working at a daycare facility on a US military base in Italy next semester. My mom actually lined me up with a lady who knew of an opportunity through some program, but the lady from the program called and woke me up this morning to fill me in on info. All I need to do is get CPR and first aid certified, as well as get immunized and 75 bucks for a uniform. I think I could swing that. Anyway, thats all about Italy for now, I'll keep you posted. I got my car back Wednesday, but I haven't even driven it 3 times so I'm not sure why I made such a fuss about it. Oh well, on the bright side, I've spent 5 bucks on gas in the last month. Sorry to those of you I bummed rides from (Scott and Jordan). I think I'm off to bed now, catch you all on the flip side.

I wonder how hard it would be to learn Italian.

Burly Man

Whiskers
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Attention readers, hold on to your pants, Corey Carlson has officially grown a few whiskers!

While gazing into the mirror yesterday, I realized I needed to shave, but upon closer examination it came to me that I really don't need to shave at all, I need to let this business keep growing. Over the past few months I've been growing some whiskers, I can still count them, but there are getting to be quite a few. I've decided to see how long I can let it go before I shave it off. Maybe next week I'll look like Rip Van Winkle.

I just got out of class, my last class was cancelled today, but of course I hadn't paid close enough attention to know whether it was cancelled this Wednesday or next, so I still had to go and make sure I wasn't missing out. Now its pancake time and then I'm gonna go get in a few kilometers of dirt before the group ride at iBike @ 2. I have a feeling we're gonna have a pretty good turn out so I want to be good and warmed up so I can answer all of Feighny's massive attacks. Thats all for now, I'll try and update with more useless crap later this afternoon.

Still no freeking car

My Two Favorite Ladies
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Here's a picture of just another cookie cutter SoDak sunset. This picture also has the added bonus of two of my favorite ladies, thats my little sis Mattie on the left and my lovely mother Terri on the right.

I woke up this morning with high hopes for the day. I was going to go to class, get my car back, go on the group ride, head to work, then stay after for the Rio Grande Trivia Contest. All went as planned until the moron from the car place left me a message that my car wouldn't be done until afternoon. No problem right? I have class in the a.m. anyway. So I get out of class, eat a little and call the guy at 1, still time to get the car and make the 2 o'clock group ride. Well Slacky McSlackerton happened to be on lunch when I called but I was assured he'd call right back. He finally did call back and was generous enough to offer me a loaner for the night since there were a couple clips he was waiting on and they wouldn't be in until the morning. The biggest problem was, he didn't call me back until 4:45! I was already on my bike late for work (after skipping the ride to wait for his call) and this joker is telling me to stop by and get a loaner car for the night? Maybe he could have offered that loaner two weeks ago when he told me my car would be done on the 15th of February. So word is the car will be done tomorrow after the clips get in, he'll probably have to re-order them 4 times like he did the decklid though so I'm not counting on getting the car until June. Enough of my sob story, I'm sure Chap's gonna give me a hard time for writing a negative update again, and I did manage to get a good nap while I watched Star Jones's Oscar special on E!. I hadn't realized that Kate Winslet has an accent, I might have a new crush? We'll just have to see who reads this and calls first, Kate or Beyonce. Tomorrow I have an examen en mi clase de espanol. Voy a estudiar mucho hoy porque quiero recibir una "a". Thanks for stopping by.

Just a side note for Kate or Beyonce, my contact info is all listed under my complete profile, or just leave me a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you.

Back Where I Come From

Huderite Colony
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

No, No, I'm not going to start doing a song of the day Danny, and don't take offense, but Kenny might not have been my first choice even if I were. Also contrary to the title of the picture, I don't come from a Huderite Colony. This is a picture of the majestic Lewis and Clark Lake west of Yankton, S.D. the town I call home. As the winter drags on, and we await another cold spell here in Colorado, I'm reminded more and more of home. Most people wouldn't think of South Dakota of a tropical paradise, and it isn't, not by any stretch of the definition. Lately, however, whenever I spend large amounts of time there it happens to have been summer. It's amazing to look at the beauty of Yankton now that I don't reside there. The whole time I lived in Yankton, 1985-1999, I was ready to get out. I knew my parents loved the town, and the surrounding country, and I sat on top of our hill with my dad as we took in sunsets and stared out into the valley. It was pretty and I knew he loved it, so I stood there and acted as enthralled as I could but in the back of my mind I was wishing I was watching the sun set over something more strikingly beautiful, such as the mountains here in Colorado. Now that I'm 650 miles away from the Yankton sunsets I can finally see the real beauty in them. I had the priviledge this summer to live on that very hill and watch the sun set over the same valley. Now I find myself here in Greeley, if I want to I can find somewhere to watch the sun set on the mountains any day that its clear. I can go drive or ride some of the most beautiful roads in the nation, but at the end of the day you know what image remains burned into my mind? Sitting on our deck this summer as the sun was setting, turning the sky red, orange, and purple makes me wish I'd never moved away. I guess what they say about the grass always being greener is the truth. Don't get me wrong, I love Colorado, and I'll probably spend the rest of my life here, but thats not to say I don't want to be back home sometimes.

I've got some homework to do before it gets too late so I better get on that. I know this update doesn't have a whole lot to do with my training or cycling at all, but to be honest, my cycling isn't all that interesting right now. Maybe I'll have more to write about a month from now when I'm tasting blood and trying not to puke at the end of every race. Thanks for reading, to those of you who haven't experienced it, hopefully someday you'll have the priviledge to watch the sunset from the deck of the Carlson Manor.

Along the Drive

Along the Drive
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

See, the picture speaks for itself.

Back when I used to pour 'crete' for a living....

The Good Old Days
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I'm finally starting to get better. It seems like I've been sick forever, but not as long as I've been without a car. Today marks two weeks since I took my car in to get 1 dent and the tail light fixed and they're still waiting on a decklid, but once that gets in they'll "get 'er painted up and she'll be outta there tomorrow." I've heard this everyday this week when I call in to check on it, evidently the OEM parts from Subaru suck and the decklids are all dented when they get them, this is the 4th one they've ordered. Anyway, I just want my car back so hopefully they figure out how to fix a car and they can get it together in a day or two. Normally I wouldn't mind riding my bike where ever I want to go but its been cold and I've been sick. Today is really nice and I have a massage scheduled in one hour so the day just keeps getting better. I went in to iBike yesterday and built some bikes for Mike. They've been getting in high-end inventory like no other for the past couple weeks. It looks like a whole new shop. Anyone from the Greeley area, I urge you to stop in and check it out. I think I might go build some more bikes after my massage. I haven't had fun working on bikes in a long time but I really enjoy hanging out with the guys there. I posted a picture from the last awesome job I had. By far the most fun I've ever had on a job, but that's what happens when you have an outstanding boss and couple of foremen. Anyway, I hope you get better Mark so you can enjoy Brussels while you are there. Thanks for reading everyone, maybe I'll update two days in a row soon.

Pretty Big Day

TT Set Up
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I woke up this morning feeling much better then yesterday, but still not 100%. My fever is gone, but I'm still pretty plugged up and my throat feels like crap and my voice sounds the same. I've been sucking down the Halls Mentho-Lyptus cough drops and they've been working their magic all day. My dad turned me on to these cough drops a long time ago, and I have to agree, they work like nothing else. I did my presentation in Espanol today and we totally rocked. We went 2 minutes 12 seconds and we only had to go 2 minutes. After that I came home and laid around for a while before Mike called me with the good news that my stuff had come in. Jordan took me out tonight for our belated Valentines dinner, so we stopped on our way out of town and I got my aero bars, mtb stem, chain, and aero brake levers. We went to a Cambodian restaurant in Longmont that was really good. We had some peanut chicken stuff that I loved (for those of you who didn't know, I'm a bit of a peanut butter fan). We also had this Vietnamese Coffee that was like an iced latte made with sweet and condensed milk instead of regular milk like a latte. Probably not as healthy as the non-fat latte, but it tasted kind've like a latte made with frosting, not a bad thing at all. After we got back I had the pleasure of putting the AB's on my bike. I think it looks pretty sweet with the whole TT set up. I don't have housing for the shifters yet, but I will tomorrow. We'll see how big of a pain it ends up being to switch back and forth between normal and TT set up. Hopefully it won't be too bad. I just need to get a 55t ring and I'll be ready for the TT's. Well I think thats all, once again I didn't get my car back yet, but what did I really expect. Maybe tomorrow I'll be luckier, and if I feel better Voy a montar mi bicicleta en mi casa porque el nieve.

Adios

I'm sick

Tylenol Cold
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Sorry I haven't updated in quite some time. I started getting sick at the beginning of the week, and it finally caught up with me today. I woke up feeling horrible, fever, cough, chills, shakes, sinus headache, etc.... Anyway, I called in to work and told them I couldn't come in so I hit up the Tylenol Cold Night Time and slept all morning. I woke up around noon or so and watched TV for a little while before I fell asleep again. This afternoon I took a little Day Time formula so I could get my homework done for tomorrow. Tomorrow could be a big day. I'm supposed to get my car back, my aero bars are supposed to come in, and most importantly I have a presentation in Espanol con mi amiga Samantha. Nosotros hablamos en la clase. Hablamos sobre nos padres, y perros. Es muy interesante. Thats all for now, I'm gonna go sleep a little more. Thanks for stopping in. I know this probably put you to sleep Chap, but you didn't have to read it if it's that dull.

Trainer Daze

P1010064
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I hate the rollers. Thought I would start this entry in a very negative way since I've been hearing I'm too negative on here. Anyway, the snow hasn't melted yet so I rode the rollers yesterday. I only did about an hour and half though so it really wasn't that bad. Doing thirds made the time move twice as fast since every 5 minutes I'm doing something differently, and since I don't have a cadence monitor that works right now, I was counting and calculating every minute or so. It really makes the time tick by, plus we set my computer up out in the living room so I could ride with Scott and we watched Pro. Today I only had one class (mexican), and we got our tests back. I got a B, but I should have done better. I'll have to study a little more next time. It's warming up and everything is melting so I think I'll be able to bundle up and ride outside this afternoon. I got some new leg warmers yesterday so I'll have to give them a test drive. I let you all know how they work.

I wonder if I'll fail the whole semester if I miss a week of class for the Gila?

Weekend Visitor

Whoops
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Sorry I haven't updated in quite some time, but I had a visitor who I was trying to entertain. My buddy Bob came down from Vail this weekend, to get his car fixed on Saturday a.m. and just left Monday afternoon. I wonder why there was anything wrong with his car? He usually takes great care of it. By the way, this is a picture of Bob's car this summer after a thunderstorm. I know it's identical to my car, I copied him, look really close though and you'll see that is a Yankton license plate, not Sioux Falls. We had a good time this weekend though, Saturday we hit up all the great places of Greeley, Romas, the Rio, and topped it off at a concert at one of the classier establishments in town, Scooters. Scooters is a smoky little bar with a snaggle toothed bouncer who evidently didn't realize how to read an ID so I got to watch the show. The band was awesome, it was called Turn 4 and the stand up bass player is Steve from Roubaix Bicycle Company. He's one of the best mechanics I've ever met and he knows his way around a bass as well. They played a little Ween and Hank III, so of course everyone had a good time. I've got some cycling club stuff to do tonight, then early to bed. I got sick from Bob, Scott, and Jordan who have all been sick in the last week. Thats all for now, hopefully the snow will melt and I'll be able to get some good pictures from a ride tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Mark Chase

Mark Chase
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Wow, I just realized I must have made it big. I've begun to cut ties with people and Mark, you are the first one. I always knew once I started getting pretty well known I'd have to let some friends go, so what better time to start then now?! Anyway, I got this really mean letter today about how bad my site sucks, yada yada, so I figured he'd be a good friend to let go first. I guess it's just a part of stardom, have to make sure you forget all the little people. I appreciate all of your support and encouraging comments you've been leaving, do me one more favor though and shoot Mark a really mean email. His address is chillido90@hotmail.com so any words of anger or hate would be awesome. Other then this, my day was rather dull. I took my car in to get fixed from where it got hit in the snow a few weeks ago. A dented trunklid and cracked taillight and the estimate was 1800 dollars. I'm really glad now that the kid left his info and didn't pull a hit and run. I rode Scott's fixed gear home from that place, did some laundry, cleaned my room a little, then showered and went and got a massage. It was awesome, the last week of base and yesterday's world championship group ride had left me pretty tight and sore so Amy worked me good. It ended up going like an hour and a half so I guess I got hooked up once again. No bikes today, although I'm looking into what wheels I'll be racing this year. I've got my old Bontragers, Scotts Kysriums, or I might be able to wrestle Nicky's Kysriums, or Zipp 303's away from her after she gets all her team stuff, we'll see. Scott's need some work from a crash he had last year, so we'll see how much that will end up being. Check out this kids site http://patkennedy.blogspot.com Pretty funny story, I think he probably made it all up though (he's a pathological liar with a slight meth problem) Thanks for not hassling me the way some supposed "friends" do. I love you Mark

My New Helmet

My New Helmet
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

There is it ladies and gents, 40 bucks.

That'd be a good ride, ba ha he ha

P1010018
Originally uploaded by wenzelracing.

So I went for the group ride today from iBike and I have to say, it hurt. We did the normal MWF route, but the attacks were flying, every time someone would get realed in another person was flying off the front. Highway 34 was the worst, If I wasn't chasing I was attacking, and just when I'd get caught I'd be chasing some other flyer. Overall it was a great ride, and I think we definitely showed the other shops in town (you know which one I'm talking about) that iBike shouldn't be messed with, we definetely have got the horsepower. After the ride Scooter and I took this tandem around the parking lot a little, then down to the coffee shop. Note the coffee on the front rack. Also note the bucket that Scott has on his head. Sorry this has been pretty boring, hey Chap, is this more exciting if I use a bunch of !!!!!!'s in the middle, I wouldn't want to put you to sleep like you were giving me crap about at the shop today.

Justin called me today and asked for a couple movie recommendations, here they are in no particular order. Pro, School of Rock, Big Fish, Pro, Terminal, Wicker Park, Garden State, Gia, Basic Instinct, Mystic River, Pro, 21 Grams, Miracle, Monster, Fatal Attraction, Mona Lisa Smile, Pro, Anchorman, Unfaithful, Laurel Canyon, and finally Pro. That's all I can think of right now, if you have any questions or would like reviews on any of the above I'd be glad to help out, just let me know. As you can tell I'm pretty into Pro right now, I think I'll watch it.

Pro The Movie

Pro Banner
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Yesterday was quite a productive day. After sleeping in and drinking coffee I stopped in at Steve's to check on my TT bars but they were backordered. I just happened to get there as the Giro rep offered his demo helmets real cheap, I thought to myself, 125 bucks is real cheap for an Atmos, no thanks. After he told me it would be 45 for the special edition Atmos's, I'm now the proud new owner of a Cofidis edition Atmos. Scott got a white one. After this, we went and got some Quesadillas, dropped Scott off for a massage, and sat at iBike for 2 hours while he got rubbed down. I picked him up, took him to iBike to order some tires, then bombed down to Boulder to watch "Pro" the movie. It's a documentary about the USPRO championships in Philly every June. The race was awesome and the movie was just as cool. It's just my kind of deal, inside info on team meetings, pros standing around hanging out and a totally sweet race. 156 miles with 10 ascents of "The Wall" a huge hill plus 13 ascents of Lemon Hill, no small bump, as well as some insane leadouts leading into the Wall. Anyway, you should all see it if you want to know what the excitement of bike racing is all about. I bought it and already watched it again. The movie was a showing for this Family Learning Center to raise money to get kids on bikes so all the big names where there. Andy Hampsten spoke, Ann Trombley, Chris Wherry, Timmy Duggan, and Travis Brown, plus some more, I guess Eddy Gragus was there too, and Scott Moniger, well it was Boulder, everyone was there. It was a lot of fun and a lot of the Rocky Mounts / Izze guys were there. Scott is all suited up so I better get going, we're headed to iBike for a group ride with all the shop owners around town. I think I'm gonna put the wood to Andy on a couple climbs, you know I'll be pretty quick with that Atmos on my head. Cross your fingers for more pictures tonight.

Seems like I spent my whole day thinking about bikes yesterday?

Thanks for reading Mark, I'll get Bob's slip up on the site in a day or two.

Rest Day

Pat Kennedy
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I was planning on going for a group ride from the iBike, but it was freekin cold today so I skipped it, so did everyone else. I ended up going down to Cherry Creek Mall with Scott in Denver to get his computer fixed. I was going to get a new remote for my iPod, but they are like 40 bucks, I think I'll wait and see how bad I need it. This picture is of my friend since preschool Pat Kennedy. I was worried that this site wouldn't reach the european population, but after I found out Pat frequents the site, I was quite relieved. On top of that, this is some downright good photography. Pat is a good looking kid, and this picture doesn't hide that. Anyway, I'm still tired from Saturday-Sunday ride-work, so I think I'm gonna go watch some crap TV until I fall asleep. Thanks for reading, sorry I didn't have much to report, but make sure you check out that photo album if you haven't already. Later.

My first century

Big day yesterday, Such a big day I couldn't pick out one picture to share the experience so I'm giving all you faithful readers an entire album to look at. I turned over a milestone that every cyclist has to turn over at some point in their lives yesterday. I know that to most serious guys it's not a huge deal, but I rode 100 miles. Scott and I rolled out about 10am to some brisk temperatures. It quickly warmed up as we headed through Milliken and Johnstown. We rode down to Longmont and west to Rabbit Mountain Open Space where we climbed the last little climb a couple times. We then followed our tracks back to Milliken, but rode up the "Russian" and in on 10th Street, did that climb in the 53x12's then down to the bike path on 34, and up to iBike where the computers turned over 161.5 kilometers. Converted to SAE, thats a hundred miles. The total ride time was 6 hrs, 13 minutes, which averages out to about 16mph. Not smoking fast, but hey, I'm not that fast this time of the year. Maybe we'll do a hundred mile time trial in August. We actually sat around iBike until it was dark and cold which didn't take too long, and we conned Mike into giving us a ride back to the apartment. Mike got a new Cannondale Prophet and just built it up yesterday so naturally we had to hit up the Rio for fajitas and margs (for those of us who were old enough) to celebrate the ride and the bike. Jordan came with too and we all had a grande time! Mike had us all cracking up by the end of a marg or two, he's always got a couple great stories to share. Ask him what would happen if he ever caught you stealing a bike off his car in front of a grocery store, I still think that is my favorite Feighny tale. After the Rio I passed out, I woke up 10 hours later feeling like I'd got 4 hours of sleep, I guess it's gonna take me a while to recover from this one. I worked a double today, I guess you could say I worked a triple if that is possible since there was no busser this morning so I bussed and hosted, then bussed tonight. After all that I have about 25 bucks to show for the day. The super bowl is finally over so I don't have to hear about it for another year, thank god. I even tried to get into the spirit by enter a little work super bowl pool. Something about pick a square, give us 3 bucks and we'll give you a bunch when the game is over. Turns out I have 3 more dollars of hatred for the super bowl now. I think I'm going to sleep great again tonight, I better sleep reall well, I'm plannin on riding Rist Canyon on Tuesday with my boss Christie. Mike, I'll be in to get that 26 from you tomorrow. I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did.

- I wonder how many drunken overweight hicks are pissed off right now because the Eagles ruined their whole year.

P.S. here is the link to the ofoto album

http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=frrqbo3.co9ubumz&Uy=r1im2g&Upost_signin=BrowsePhotos.jsp%3FshowSlide%3Dtrue&Ux=1

Just copy and paste it into a new window, I know it doesn't all copy, but just copy what you can and paste it, it will work.

Why can't I find anything in my room?

Messy Room
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Whew, it took a while to get ready this morning, since I was in a sleepy daze, had to give my alcoholic roomy a ride to a bar, and couldn't seem to find anything I was looking for in my room, but once I got out and got rolling, today was awesome. 60 degrees in February, this week has been amazing. Scott and I got in real close to 4 hours again today which felt great, and tomorrow we've got a little century action going down I think. I'll let you know how it turns out, but word on the street is Rabbit Mountain better beware cause we're gonna tear that thing apart. I worked tonight after our ride so I'm pretty thrashed right now but I think I'll throw in some laundry once I'm out of the shower so I'll have some clean duds to wear tomorrow. maybe my room will look better once I do the wash. It's time for me to finally get to bed, thanks for reading, sorry this was lame, I promise tomorrow will be better.

P.S. song of the day is Jessie McCartney, Beautiful Soul. My roommate is totally obsessed with that kid so I hear it like 5 times an hour.

Hello

Mack Grill
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

Anyone ever seen this up close? Today after a few hours on the bike I'd thought up a few pretty good update topics. First off, Scott and I made a friend on my ever famous RD72. This dog followed us for at least 5 kilometers before we finally hit some pavement and dropped him. He didn't give up easily, I had to put in a couple surges to wear him out then we both threw down and he just couldn't hold the pace, he gave us a few bark/whines and we went out separate ways. I hope he made it home alright. Then I considered writing about a song of the day or something like my good buddy Danny. Ideas for this were easy to come by as my iPod was pumping plenty of ideas into my ear, everything from Jurassic 5's, Concrete Schoolyard to The Street's, Weak Becomes Heros. Both of these are awesome songs, especially when you are on a bike, but just when I was trying to decide just what the picture of the day would be, the best update idea of week started to pull out right in front of me. I waved and he stopped, at least I thought he stopped, but he just waited for a car, then decided to pull out once it was too late for me to stop. I sprinted a few pedal strokes and got passed him by about 10 inches as he sped up onto the road. I think his window was down (I'm pretty sure he could have heard me yelling even if it was up) I gave him an earfull as he turned left and drove away from us. Scott thought he could chase him down, but gave up as soon as the adrenaline left him and he realized it was a "god knows how many ton" MACK truck and Scott was on his 17 pound Giant. My anger soon wore off, but I'd like to formally apologize to any of the kids that were on the playground across the highway. That was no way for me to talk and I'd appreciate it if we could just pretend like it didn't happen, thanks guys I knew you'd understand. Needless to say I was a little shook up for a while, but overall I had a great ride today. Got in a solid 4 hours before cruising down to the second Rocky Mounts meeting of the week. I think we're done for a while now but it was fun to meet everyone and eat some pizza. Dede Demot Barry was there too (Olympic Bronze Medalist in the ITT). She gave a little speech/presentation. Well, Jordan just emailed me a 10 page paper to read over for her, plus I have a little paper of my own to write, so I better get on that if I'm gonna get to bed in time to get up and get to class. Thanks for reading, and by the way, leave a comment sometime just so I know if I'm writing to myself or if someone is actually wasting their time here too.

P.S. I tried out some Speedplay pedals today, I loved them you should all give them a whirl. and if your drivetrain is ever filthy, take the bike into iBike, Chap works wonders on it. I swear it felt like I had a new chain, derailleur, shifter, and legs, all from a little citrus degreaser, chain cleaner, and one heck of a mechanic.

Mad Russian

Mad Russian House
Originally uploaded by coreycrlsn.

I think I've said "the mad russian" at least 500 times in my life, but until just now I never realized how wierd of a name it is. Around Greeley cyclist flock to "THE MAD RUSSIAN" its a good solid 2 minute climb on HWY 257 right next to the Mad Russian golf course. The hill is known to all simply as "THE RUSSIAN." I'd really like to hear the history behind the golf course now though, just to see who and why they came up with Mad Russian for a golf course? Anyway, I started my 3rd yesterday, for the leyman out there, 3rds are a type of cadence interval on a bike, I mash the pedals for a while, then I spin as fast as I can, then I pedal normally. Three parts, hence the name 3rds. Others know them as stomp and spin intervals, either way, I did them yesterday and its crazy how 155 bpm can feel like such suffering after I've gotten to be such good friends with 140. I rode through a housing development around the golf course and this huge John Deere caught my eye in someones driveway. My first thought was "holy crap that seems a little excessive to plow the snow out of one driveway." My next thought was "holy crap, they stole that house from the Jetsons." It's not as impressive as the Jetsons, or that house on I-70, but its pretty cool for Milliken, Colorado. I did a good solid two hours and froze the entire time because I was very underdressed. Oh well, last night made up for it. I went to a U25 meeting for Rocky Mounts and got hooked up. We got some stuff, and learned how the season is hopefully going to go for the Devo Team. I'm not really supposed to talk about it, you know, pretty top secret stuff, (I could tell you but I'd have to kill you) but if any juniors on the front range accidentally stumbled across this, get ahold of Matson or Couch from RM cause I have a feeling we could be the next serious developmental team in the state. I went to class this morning and then got some quesadillas at the Rio. I think its nap time now, thanks for reading, you probably won't want to anymore after a few more of these boring entries. I'll try and do something really exciting in the next 24 hours.