Four and a half hours in the fog.

Mist wisps from my lips,
Into the fog I pedal,
This is why we ride.

There is a little Haiku written personally for Brian Amstutz. I know he'll like it.



Today's ride was great. The forecast said it would get up to 44 degrees, but judging by the ice that kept growing on the leading edge of my bike, the rate at which my bottles froze, and the way my toes felt when I got home, I don't believe the temperature rose much above freezing today.




Regardless it was a great ride. A few things brought me warmth and sunshine despite the fog.

#1 Gas station Cream Cheese muffin in Windsor.

#2 Steak, potatoes, cheese, and green chili breakfast burrito in Milliken.



#3 Warm water at Dillards in Galeton.



#4 A "Star Crunch" as I cruised back into Greeley.

Overall great day, today wasn't about training, I had fun on the bike, it's days like this that make me want to ride.

First crash of '07.

I rode 3.5 hours this afternoon, and then crashed just as I turned into my parking lot at the end of my ride. I slipped on some ice and fell in a puddle that was deep enough to cover my mid section. I'm glad it was at the end of my ride, or I would have FROZEN since I was soaking wet when I got inside.

I rode an hour this morning, then picked up Alex Lewis at the dorms for another two hours. I thought I'd packed enough food, but by the time we got to Milliken, I was STARVING. I ate an absolutely glorious breakfast burrito at a gas station and cruised in just in time to shower and go work at the Rio. I didn't make much money, but I did get $10 in $2 bills from some old guy. If you're really nice I might send you one, just paypal $5 to coreycrlsn@hotmail.com.

For those of you who haven't heard, I've gotten the chance to work with Rick Crawford and the Endurance Training Network as a satellite coach. I'll be working with a few individual clients this year and hopefully working with a collegiate team here in Colorado, but there will be more to come on that front at a later date.

That's all for now, I'll have pictures of this weekend's group ride on here soon. Thanks for checking in.

I just watched Jonestown : Paradise Lost.

It was a docu/drama on the history channel about the mass murder/suicide at Jonestown, Guyana in the 70's. Anyway, the guy playing Jim Jones looked a lot like my brother, kind of creeped me out. This picture is pretty bad, but apparently Rick Roberts' career didn't really take off after playing Jones.





The last photo, a self-portrait of Edgar Degas, also has an uncanny similarity to Dave' Suave'... you be the judge.

It's on loan.

But I figured with the red housing it least has a touch of Corey on it.

It's only a matter of time.

February is upon us. I suppose that means many different things, in two weeks every girl in the country who was happy with their single life, will suddenly feel so lonely they won't be able to help but weep. Every guy with a night class on that amorous day will be scrambling to get something together for his girlfriend who is sitting next to him in class, and has no idea he forgot about Valentines Day.

It also means more bitter cold weather here along the Front Range.

Some recognize February as Black History month, or the month of Groundhog's Day.

Other's look forward to February as National Bird Feeders month, or even National Condom Month.

February hosts the Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, and as everyone knows, The Daytona 500.

What does February mean to me? Easy, it's one month away from my birthday month. Those of you who know me, know how important my birthday is, probably more important than any of your birthdays. It's so important in fact, I don't celebrate a day, not even a week, but March is my birthday month, 1st through the 31st. I do share my birthday with a lot of people I know, and they can have their days, but it's still MY month.

My Cousin Kayla - 9th
My Godmother - 10th
Wayne Williamson- 12th
Ron Bush - 17th
Me - 20th
Grandma Carlson - 20th
Grandpa Carlson - 21st
Dave Towle - 21st
My Lovely Mother- 22nd*
Aunt Kristi - 25th
My Brother David- 30th

*TURNING 50!

I know there are others, the Valentines Day blunder girlfriend is in there too, I think the 11th? But the important thing to remember, is that the most important birthday in there is mine. So... start the countdown, March is only 28 days away.

In other news. I've been pretty busy this week. There might be some changes coming my way, but there will be more info on that in the coming weeks. I got a good trainer party ride in with Scott yesterday afternoon, but I think I'm flying solo today. I should quit dragging my feet and get on it. Thanks for checking in, have a great February.

P.S. If your comment has been deleted within the past few days, maybe you should watch the language. I have the right to rid this site of any distasteful content.

Scott got rejected by himself.

I'm back, sorry for the break.

Skate skiing at 10,000ft. Yeah, it's the real McCoy.



As you can see, I was one of the only people out there.



I think I could get used to this.



Allez was glad to see me. She's in heat so she wears little kid's underwear which looks hilarious. I wonder where Matt got a bunch of little kid's underwear.



I went to Edwards and stayed with Matt Koch and Jeremy Gross. I got to go ski at the nordic center on top of Beaver Creek resort. Skate skiing was a blast, I haven't done it in a year, and forgot how hard it was. My arms are still killing me. I also got to guest star on their local broomball game. I was nervous at first, but I managed to help them maintain a scoreless season. After the game, we went to the sponsor's (a bar) and hung out for a while. Little Matt got a girls number, which not only made me proud, but also blew me away. I actually lost a bet to myself.

I drove back Thursday, worked Friday night and Saturday morning, and that's about it. I guess there's been a little riding thrown in there too, as well as some shivering and complaining about the cold.

Roller Party!

I was going to take today off and hope for some outdoor riding the rest of the week. The at about 3 I decided that I'm getting out of town for a few days after work tomorrow, so there will definitely be no riding tomorrow. This left me with a long solo roller ride, so to help pass the time I rented a couple DVD's of Six Feet Under and invited a few guys from the UNC team over to share in the misery. I hoped on around 5, Brian got here at 5:30, and then Dana joined us at 6:15. We managed to keep things going until 8, so we all got pretty decent rides in.

Last night I rode off the rollers and stacked it up in the middle of my living room all alone. I stood up a little too fast and went right off the front of the rollers. I was relieved that no one was here to see it, but after Brian did the same thing in front of Dana and I tonight, I felt bad that I didn't have to deal with the embarrassment that I could see running through his body.

I saw a new roller trick on the online a few days ago and had to give it a whirl. I managed to successfully do a couple 1 minute intervals without ever really going down, although I did have to put a foot down once.



I know the video is a little dark, but you can make out what's going on. Sorry about Dana's harry chest, it's not his fault. That's all I've got, thanks for checking in.

It's Over.

I finally finished The Da Vinci Code. The past few days I haven't been able to persuade myself into reading it, but the break did help me log a few hours on the rollers. Anyway, my book review goes a little like this...

Don't waste your time, maybe just watch the movie.

That's all I've got for now. My bed is calling and the sooner I get to sleep, the sooner I can get up and ride my trainer again! I think tomorrow I might have a date with the cross bike and snow covered dirt roads. We'll just have to see.

P.S. I patched my favorite jeans again tonight. Sooner or later I'm just going to have to throw in the towel, but after tonight, it's looking like that day will be later rather than sooner.

Be Safe, Lock Your Doors, Carry Mace, etc.

Last night was good. I made some decent cash (enough to buy groceries for a week today) as well as had a blast with a bunch of co-workers afterwards. The after-party thing needs to stop, although it was a ton of fun, but the cash thing can continue to flow.

OK, the point of this update. In the past two days Scott's brother Kevin got mugged at gunpoint in St. Louis, Eric Boyce stumbled upon a someone stealing something out of his car in Fort Collins, a fight ensued and the guy left without the bike he'd parked behind Eric's car, and finally my friend Paige got chased down a dark alley on her way to her car after a party last night in Minneapolis. Moral of the story, watch your back, people are strange and apparently evil as a whole. Luckily all three of my friends are safe. It makes you wonder how often this kind of crap happens, and where people ever got it into their heads that this kind of stuff is acceptable behavior.

I'm off to work again. On a lighter note, I got my old bolo tie back. Whose pumped? I'm pumped. Thanks for checking in.

New Computer

My dad gave me his old laptop just after Christmas since he got a new one (thanks dad), so I'm no longer constrained to my desk. I'm at the library right now, I got a letter that I had a book overdue and they were going to charge me $80 if I didn't return it. The only problem was, I already had returned it... before the due date. I rode over here, and sure enough, it was restocked right where it should have been on the shelf. I'll be taking it down to the desk shortly. I hope they don't try and charge me a late fee, because I think it would be about $15 by now.

Other than that, I got Firefox all set up on here, and I'm slowly educating myself to the world of RSS feeds. I think I like it. You know what else I like, my new hat.



I should head home and shower before I work tonight. I didn't ride today, which is lame, but I got off my bike at 10 last night and couldn't talk myself into getting onto it as soon as I woke up this morning. It's actually pretty nice out right now, but of course the forecast shows snow showers tomorrow and Sunday. Maybe my new hat will get me out the door even in a flurry.

I'll leave you with one of my Mom's Christmas presents for my Dad. She hired an aerial photographer to take pictures of our place in Yankton, and since I got the computer, I got a bunch of old pictures too. Maybe I'll spice up my updates with random pictures from time to time. Although it may be debated by some, I still take a large amount of credit for the retaining walls along the drive and below the house.

White Gold.

So, I was content with my earlier update, until I got off my bike this evening, surfed the few regular websites I look at, and realized, "these people are sitting at home, hitting the refresh button over and over, waiting for an update from me, and what do I give them? A few lines and a generic title with one crappy picture of my mouse trap powered book holder?" It was then that I decided I'd write some more.

I delayed riding about as long as I could today. I finally climbed on just after "The Office" ended, so I got to watch the musical "Scrubs," and then "30 Rock?" is that the name? Anyway, they were both entertaining and an hour ticked by without too much agony. I then switched it up, exchanged the TV for the book, and read a few more chapters of The Da Vinci Code. I like it less and less as it goes on, maybe it's just my attitude. In the end, I only rode two hours. I hope it gets nice out, so I can make up some time this weekend.

So... What goes through my head during these extended trainer sessions? Different athletes are fueled by different motivators. Some play and then replay in their minds, past or future races that they won, almost won, or are going to win. Others daydream of the success and fame their sport will someday bring them. I'm sure there are a million different things going through a million different athletes minds. What's on my mind when I'm stuck indoors?

Food.

The same thing that's on my mind when I ride outside. I dream up these lavish scenarios of decadent feasts, piles of food. Pancakes, or burritos. Omeletes, and burgers. I dream of bigger and better ways to replace the calories I've been ticking off throughout my ride. Usually I could gain a few pounds after a century if I followed through with all my mid-ride ideas. What do I usually eat when I'm done? Typically I drink a glass of sugar-milk (recovery secret, cats out of the bag) and eat a grapefruit as I crash on my couch, or head for the shower. All the mid-ride dreams of overindulgence pass, only to come back and haunt me around 9 or 10 every night.

Now that we're on the food topic, where should we go? Easy... Cream Cheese. I've been accused of being a fanatic, and I believe it's a correct assumption. I put this stuff on everything. Not unlike Mr. Average Joe Cyclist, I dabble in the peanut butter from time to time, but honestly, the cream cheese has almost fully excluded the JIF from my arsenal of accoutrements. I put it on everything. Pizza, in spaghetti sauce, bagels (of course), sandwiches and wraps, Grilled Cream Cheese sandwiches dipped in marinara, CC and Jelly sandwiches, in macaroni, on pancakes, and, as I discovered tonight...



Celery sticks.

Speaking of celery, who out there has ever tried it steamed? Well I did, and it's not too bad.

Speaking of steamed vegetables, I got a rice steamer a few days ago that has a vegetable tray on top that will simultaneously steam my vegetables as it cooks the rice. I made some a couple days ago and it was awesome as well as awesomely easy. I marinated some chicken in a Lemon Pepper sauce and had the rice and vegetables with that.

Lemons. I mysteriously found a bunch of lemons, limes, and grapefruits in the bottom of my fridge and wasn't sure what to do with them. The grapefruits were easy as I'm experienced in grapefruit eating. So experienced in fact that if eating a grapefruit in the bathtub (or any body of water for that matter) I can eat the fruit, leaving the rind as a boat to float around me. Anyway, I was stumped with what to do with the lemons as there were quite a few. I squeezed some on the chicken/rice/vegetable meal. That was good, but I still had 3 and 7/8 lemons remaining in my possession. I started squeezing a little in every glass of water that I drink, and I find that not only does it hide the taste of Greeley's water, it makes me want to drink more water because it's like a "special" drink.

Lemon water, I made some at work today because I was parched after drinking a french press of coffee at home, then a cup of Rio coffee.

French press, I think I've drank an entire french press every morning for breakfast since I've been back in Greeley after Christmas. I should probably cut back a little.

Breakfast, I've been alternating my breakfasts between the usual yogurt with granola and hard boiled eggs with toast. I really like the hard boiled eggs, because I can cook a week's breakfasts in just 12-15 minutes. I try to throw some fruit in there too, but I'm out of banana's.

Banana's. I've eaten plenty of banana's with peanut butter on them, maybe it's time I try one with cream cheese?

I think I'll keep a jar of peanut butter around after all.

Day 11

I'm getting tired of the whole day number title thing, yet I can't seem to think of any catchy/interesting/witty titles for these dull updates.

I had my first shift at the Rio this morning. A girl called while I was on my trainer last night and asked if I'd cover her morning bus shift. It wasn't too bad, I remember now that mornings are easy, everyone comes in at once, and everyone leaves at once. One table hung out until 2:45 (we close for the afternoon @ 2:00), so that definitely delayed me getting home.

Now I'm thinking I'll sit around and possible eat a little, and then try to do a solid 3 hours inside. It's still cold and windy outside, so I'm stuck indoors. I've been splitting things up, doing two-a-days which helps, but I wasn't feeling it at 8:00 this morning. I guess if I'm going to be working many days I'll have to get used to it.

I've been riding the trainer so I can read while I ride.

It's not so bad, although I think I should still ride the rollers a little here and there to try and round out my not-so-perfect pedal stroke. Back to reading on the trainer. I'm finally catching up with the masses and reading The Da Vinci Code. If you've read Angels and Demons, don't bother reading this one, or vice versa (same story, different settings). The writing is definitely not the greatest, but the page and a half chapters seem to make the time go by and take my mind off of the fact that I've ridden more inside than I have outside this winter. Unfortunately two days into the book, it's almost done, so I'll have to find something else to read. Welp, that's all I've got, thanks for checking in.

Day 8

3 hours on the trainer. Warm weather couldn't come fast enough. Do any of you remember those days during the summer when you didn't want to go outside or do anything because it was so hot? Well, I do and I'm never going to forgive myself.

Day 5

I broke down and rode the trainer today, something I was hoping I could avoid all winter. I can handle the snow and ice outside, it actually adds a little stimulation and excitement to riding outside, but what I can't do is this 3 degrees above zero crap. I just decided that I'm ready for winter to be over. I know the cold will make me a grittier racer, but when it gets this cold, I'm just going to turn into a fatter racer.

I worked all day yesterday, then went on a little cleaning spree. I managed to clean and organize my entire apartment, including all the closets in just under 4 hours. I went out for a little bit with Scott and Ray after that, but I don't think I'll be showing my face at the Cactus Canyon for a long time, hopefully never again. Man that place sucks. I always forget how lame it is until I get back the next time. Oh well. This afternoon I sewed a huge patch onto some jeans that I'd blown out this fall. They were my favorite pants and I'm glad to have them back, although I'm sure they've got a limited number of bend overs and squats in them before that large slit in the rear reappears.

The forecast looks like it should be getting warmer by the middle of next week, so I just need to figure out how to survive the trainer until then. I borrowed Steve's Kreitler rollers, so hopefully that'll help the time pass. I did some one legged intervals on them tonight, that's interesting to say the least. Hopefully someday I'll be able to do it no handed like the dude on YouTube. Alright, I'm out, thanks for checking in.

Day 3

Today started off awesome, Scott and I met up and went exploring and even managed to find a new road that was smooth and significantly lacking in the car department. The way out was great and the first couple hours flew by. Then the sun went under, the wind seemed to pick up, and moods as well as blood sugars soon dropped.

An hour or so later, spirits were high again after we stopped by the Kersey gas station, indulged in one of my personal guilty pleasures (cream cheese muffin) and warm water. I got a solid three and a half hours in today and felt really good overall. My bike however didn't fare so well. By hour three, there were icicles everywhere, and my front wheel spray had frozen so thick under the fork, that my tire was rubbing on it. Luckily I had found a screwdriver on the ground earlier in the ride so I was able to clean it right out.



In another stroke of genius, I rode off the road, and was just barely able to pull the my bike out of the ditch.



In other news, I'm now officially an employee of the Rio Grande Mexican restaurant her in Greeley. As some of you long time readers may already know, I worked there a while back, but I'm now back on board. It looks like I'll be working Friday nights and Saturday mornings as well as any other shifts I'm able to pick up during the week.

That's all for now, thanks for checking in.

Day 1

Man, I can't believe how worked over I feel from just 2 and a half hours. I'm hoping it's only because of the last three weeks of gluttony and laziness, but if not, this could be a long year. Riding today was awesome. It felt really good to get out and do something for a change. I've been complaining about all this snow, but I could take a full winter of days like today. I rode my cross bike and hit up the famous semi-classic GAG (Greeley-Ault-Greeley) since it's one of my favorite base rides. The highways were wet, but I took a big detour on the way back and hit up an hour or so of dirt roads that were PERFECT. The snow was packed hard and wasn't wet at all like the blacktop. Tomorrow I'm gonna try and sneak an early ride in before work, but I'll try to get my camera charged up before then so I can something more interesting to look at on here. That's all for now, thanks for checking in.

Look back on 2006.

The 2006 season started a little late for me. After a rough winter in my head, I dreaded coming back to Colorado after winter break, and didn't start riding until almost February.


I ended up having a great winter though, the training was good, weather was awesome, and I started having a lot of fun here at school. I met a bunch of new people in Greeley, and have made some lasting friendships, and some that weren't so lasting. The weather for riding was awesome in Colorado last winter, and I spent a lot of time in the mountains EARLY in the year. The best part of riding in the mountains in the pancakes.


My season started with a bang at the CU Crit on March 18th. I ended up 2nd after pulling back a break so my one-time teammate would have a chance for the win. Things didn't work out for him, so I punched it and gapped everyone except for a CU kid affectionately known as fat-ass. The highlight of that day was definitely getting my picture with Tyler Hamilton. Thanks again Kari Mello.

If you look close you can see Dave Towle in the corner.

The rest of the collegiate season went better than expected. I never managed to win a collegiate race, but came close a time or two. My favorite races would have to be the Fruita Loops Crit hosted by Mesa State, and the Fort Lewis Circuit Race. I ended up riding in a break with 4 FLC kids at the Fruita race, taking 3rd out of the bunch, and my result at the FLC home race wasn't great, but it was the first time I felt good climbing, in my life. I felt like I was able to push the pace a little here and there, and had a lot of fun, not half as much as the ride home though.



Moving on.


I managed to pick up a couple wins early as a Cat. 3 at the Koppenburg Road Race, and the Boulder Roubaix. I went to The Tour of the Gila with high expectations, but instead was treated to the Mogollon climb, and then a head cold. I still felt like I did a great race, and rode my way into the top ten with a 2nd in the crit and 7th on the Gila Monster Stage.

After the Gila I upgraded and got a slap in the face with a 90 minute Coal Miner's Classic Crit in 90 degree weather won by none other than Greg Henderson. I got throttled, but actually gained a little confidence with a late race effort to bring a couple guys back in the last lap.

After that was the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango. The road race was stupid hard, as my climbing legs had long since left me by this time, and I suffered pretty bad to finish at the back of the pack. The next day though was the downtown crit, and was probably the best race of my life. I covered the front early thinking it was a good course for a break to get away, but it never stuck, and I'd wasted a lot of energy, so I soon found myself surfing the back. I tried to relax for a few laps, with a plan of moving up with 5 to go, and seeing what I could make happen in the last two laps. I made it to the front when I wanted to, actually a little early, as I was 3rd wheel with one lap to go. As we came through the start finish, the two guys, Troy Wells and Eric Ransom, did the bike throw and sat up thinking we were done. I had followed their wheels and had a little gap as we headed up the hill the last lap, I was confused, but not enough to sit up with less than a lap to go. I buried it, and barely held my gap through the lap to take my first Pro 1,2 win. It felt good, really good, and to do it in Durango, with Dave Towle on the mic, my mom in the crowd, and racing against a bunch of people I respect and admire, only made it feel better.


After that my season wound down for a while. I did my own thing, rode my mountain bike a bit, and got my single speed cross bike out as much as I could. I had planned to do a bunch of collegiate mountain bike stuff this fall, but after only a weekend, I switched it up and got onto the cross bike. My form this fall felt crappy, only a couple times did I feel like I was going well, luckily it happened toward the end of the year and nationals was a lot of fun and I had a decent collegiate race there ending up 15th.

The biggest thing that stands out to me this season was the overwhelming amount of support I felt from all kinds of people. I had more people coming to watch me race, wishing me luck, or congratulating me, than I could believe. I want everyone of you reading this to know that all of your support really does mean a lot to me.

First off, Scott Wenzel was there, right alongside me through most of the season.

Nat Ross and Dave Towle. I just met Nat this fall, through Dave actually, but really enjoyed racing with him, or having him on the sidelines doing the announcing thing. I've known who Dave was for quite some time, but really got to know him this spring after the UNC home race. He's an awesome guy, and is exactly what the sport of cycling needs to continue to grow and prosper here in the states. His energy and enthusiasm are unmatched, as well as his character.

Steve Opp. Steve gave me a job when I really needed one this summer, and has always been super flexible with my schedule to allow me to pursue what it is I want to do. He even made it out to a cross race this fall, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him at the races next fall.

Matt Koch got to be a really good friend throughout the season last spring, always had coke and cold water on hand when I rode through Estes Park this summer, and let us take over his condo for a weekend when the racing took us to Summit County. Thanks Matt (and Allez).

Evan Sandstrom - E Strong. Probably one of the most photogenic people I know, but also always willing to lend a helping hand, or yell "grip it and rip it" or "get some" from the side of any race, anywhere, anytime.


Brian Amstutz, who I met through cycling, but have continued to hang out with probably more than anyone else on here. I'm pretty sure he'll one day kill me, but I do enjoy our discussions or lack thereof on my porch stairs.

Ambrette. Some of the people on here are getting a little more credit than they deserve, but I don't think I could ever relay how much support Ambrette has given me this year, or how much I've appreciated every bit of it.

Lastly, a huge thanks to my parents that have given me more opportunities in the past 22 years than many people get in a lifetime. I know I'm no model child, and I know I've put you through a lot, but thanks for everything you've done for me.

I know I've missed more people than I've put on here, but ANYONE who has taken the time from their day to read this drivel has my thanks and gratitude. I owe you all one. 2007 looks to be very different than 2006. I won't be doing any collegiate racing for one, but I hope to take another step in the direction of my ultimate goal. I've never admitted it before, never even to myself, but I've finally realized I want to be a professional cyclist, and I'm going to be one someday. I know there is still a lot of road ahead of me, but I've set my sights on a goal, so the only person who can come between me and that goal now is myself. It took some life changes to help me realize this, but I've never felt more focused and directed as I do now. I know it's a long shot, but wish me luck and continue to give me your support if you can. Thanks for everything.


P.S. I need another job, any ideas?

Good to be home, for just over 24 hours.

We made it home yesterday afternoon, and now I'm packing to beat a storm through the midwest. I want to get home before the weekend, so it looks like I'll be driving through the night and out of my way to get there.

Yesterday's travel was good, although I was a little under the weather after a weekend of racing and more importantly the Crank Brothers Aftermath post race party. The race on Sunday was good, a lot better than Saturday and somehow I ended up 15th. I was hanging with a group that could've put me into the top ten, but I lost contact on the last couple of laps. I finished strong and am happy with the way my season ended. The after party was a blast. There was a huge crowd that included, a few national champions (including a really tall one, and Dave Towle tearing apart the dance floor.

That's all I've got for now, check back for more later.

Travel and the Elite Men's race.

Well, we left Greeley at way too early Thursday morning after way too little sleep, but got to DIA and checked in without a problem. Just as I suspected, I had to pay $100 bucks to get my bike onto the plane. Since we were left with plenty of time, Ambrette and I headed to Que Bueno, the best burrito place around, and got a breakfast burrito, then headed to our gate and boarded shortly after. Then came the pilot over the intercom saying there would be a 20 minute delay so they could tighten a bolt on the landing gear. That's cool, I like landing gear that works. Then after 20 minutes, the pilot said they can't find a wrench and might have to fly one in from Atlanta. We went to the ticket counter and got set up on a different flight to Atlanta now instead of Cinncinati, but our flgiht wouldn't leave for another hour. Ambrette hobo-d up and slept on the floor, I read for a while and watched all the people from our old flight freaking out about the delayed/canceled flight.

We ended up getting to Providence at 10pm instead of 5pm, got our bags, but not my bike, and rented a car and set out to find James (our gracious host)'s house. We ate, found it, went to bed, expecting a call about my bike anytime after midnight. Still no call in the morning, so I called them. My bike was in Detroit, and would be arriving at 3:44. This is all great, but I was going to pre-ride the course on Friday, and do some openers since I hadn't touched the thing since Sunday's race. Instead, we walked around Brown University for a while, ate some lunch, we and walked around the course, headed back to the airport and my bike was actually there. For the next hour or two we tried to find the race hotel for registration/packet pickup, and finally after calling a few people, and walking in circles for far too long, we found it, and got my race info.

This morning I opted to sleep in, and pre-ride in the afternoon. We got to the course around noon, and I got a few solid laps on it while it was open this afternoon. I felt decent warming up, and even found a pile of Cyclo-Ops neutral trainers to warm up on. I staged 131st, in row 17, but still had every intention of nailing the whole-shot. Oddly enough, I didn't. I did move up well through the first lap. It was kinda fun weaving through the crowd for a lap or two. After that second lap though, I noticed a lot more guys coming by me, more than I was passing. I felt really blocked, and just couldn't dig that deep. I loved the course, but faded back and finished 81st.

On the way home, Ambrette and I raided the samples at Whole Foods. I thought we might get kicked out when I saw Ambrette doing shot after shot of the apple cider, but somehow we made it through the store unscathed. The goat/sheep cheese spread did throw me for a loop, but I recovered with a little gingerbread cake stuff. I wanted to shove a sock in the cheese ladies mouth and ask her if she knew that the cheese she just gave me tasted a lot like that, only worse. I refrained and instead, enjoyed the one flavor of Izze that they had in the store (my favorite, Pomegranate).

Now we're just hanging out, James had an office Christmas party to go to in Boston, so we have the place to ourselves. I think I'm gonna go read and crash early. Hopefully today's effort opened me up for tomorrow. The collegiate race looks to be a pretty stacked field though, so it'll be a tough one. I'll see what I can do to make something happen. Thanks to everyone for their words of good luck, and also to Tom Vincent for lining up an Orbea with SRAM and Zipps in case my bike didn't come in. Why couldn't Delta have just taken a little more time getting it here?

That's all for now, from the land of "We Got Worms" and "Billy in 4-C," thanks for checking in. Check back for photos after I get home.

6:00AM Thursday.

We're leaving. Wish me luck. Not sure if I'll be updating from Providence, but I'll try my best. Look for race reports soon, hopefully they'll have small numbers in them. Thanks for checking in.

More State CX Pics.

Front row call-up. Boo Ya.

Barriers in a group.

Running alone, straight at the camera.

Flat tire.


Photos borrowed from Peloton Photo.

Who are those crazy cats?


Photos stolen from Spotted.

Also...

A 1998 Ford Mustang driven by Trevor Schultz, Gayville, collided with a 2005 GMC Denali driven by Jolene Williamson, Yankton, in the 100 block of East Third St. at 5:31 p.m. Monday. Estimated value of the damage to the vehicles was $596 and $100, respectively.

State Championships.

Mud, I have no confidence in this stuff, but seemed to ride it faster than the guys I was with.

Barriers in front of the Rocky Mounts cheering/barbeque section.

My first flat tire of the year.


Racing here in Colorado is over for the year. Two more races and I get a break. I think I'm ready for it. It's been getting harder and harder to get motivated to get out and ride the past couple weeks, and the fact that I've been riding alone doesn't help. Oh well, One more hard workout, and two races before it's all over.

Saturday was the State Championships. A top ten there was a goal for me all season, but didn't quite happen. I got a front row call-up which was awesome. They did call-ups based on BCR (Best Cyclocross Racer) points, so I had a great start, which was really important on the course. There was a small road climb, then straight to singletrack, which would have caused a huge bottleneck, and I'm sure it did, but I was in front of it. The singletrack turned to off camber slop, with some whoop type stuff filled with peanut butter mud in the troughs, more off-camber, and muck, barriers, then some road "S" turns through a parking lot, sloppy singletrack downhill to a mud field with huge whoops and mudpits, more barriers, and back to the road climb. I started top ten, but drifted back into 15th or so in the first few laps. The TIAA-Cref kids must have been playing a game to see who could lay it down in front of me the most times. I think I ran over or into one of them at least 3 times in those first couple laps, and coincidentally lost the group I really wanted to be in. For the first time this year, I was able to shake it off, ride my own race, and pick guys off. With 4 to go, I had caught and passed the group I wanted to be in, and was sitting 10th or 11th with a small chance of catching the group just up the road containing Katie Compton, the US woman's national champ, and if Saturday was any indicator of her form, I think she's got a great chance for a rainbow jersey in February. I probably wouldn't have caught them, but it became irrelevant when I flatted at the start of the singletrack with a lap and 3/4 to go. I rode the rim for 3/4 of a lap, losing positions the whole way to the pits. I got my wheel changed just as I heard Baker finish behind me, so the last lap was just sort of a tour of the course as I was the last person on it.

On a positive note, I didn't get lapped, even after riding a half speed lap. Since I was alone at the end, I tried hopping the barriers in front of the Rocky Mounts tent. I didn't make it, but I think if I would have practiced a little during warm-ups they would have been totally doable. Huge thanks to the guys in the tent though, the drunken rowdiness always makes it hurt a little less for a second or two. Those brats smelled good too, if I wouldn't have lost it immediately, I kind've wanted to get one handed up.

I took a History final this morning at 8:00, and my Art final is at 1:30. I should go study a little more, gotta get that architecture stuff down. Two more finals after today, then it's off to RI. I lost my coffee cup so I better go make some more. Enjoy your day, I know I'll be enjoying mine, after the Post-Traumatic Test Taking Disorder wears off. Those Art History tests can be upsetting, I think I just stared at a wall for an hour or two after the first one.

Boots, and Scott's 1/2 Birthday.

Pictures from Red Rocks #4.

Well, I'm sixth overall in the American Cycling Association Best All Around Cyclocrosser category going into the State Championships on Saturday. Hopefully I can hold onto that. There is a good chance I'll slip a spot or two, since some of the faster guys will be there, but we'll see. It's looking like it could be muddy, which might suck, or be fun, I still haven't decided.

I just got my first two Christmas presents of the year today. The Roubaix Bicycle Company gave me a 10speed Ultegra group, and my brother gave me some boots. I'm wearing the boots right now, thinking about the 10sp stuff. I was reminded today how much I like Christmas!

Wednesday I rode on campus at the football practice fields, so I could do a longer run up. The lap I made up sucked, and I've really lost motivation training now that everyone has moved on to base. Since I only got in 20 minutes of mediocre effort, I headed out for a run in the afternoon. I'm feeling more powerful running which should be good for Rhode Island if it's muddy like last year. Other than that, nothing too cool happening. Finals are next week, so this weekend will be all studying, after the race on Saturday that is. Right now I need to go take a movie back to the library, get my Surly ready for Saturday in case it's muddy, and write a recap of an Earth Science lecture on the Badlands of South Dakota.

Right after the single barrier.

Going up the STEEP little run.

Coming down the STEEP little run. I guess some guys rode this, but I still think it was faster and safer to run.

One of the frozen trails you could actually get some speed on, that is if you could absorb the bumps.


That course was fun, but it's too bad the photographer didn't get any bunny hopping pictures. Maybe there will be something I can hop this weekend? I hope so.

Can post pictures now?

sweet

200th Post!

So, I made it to 200 posts on this here blog. Everyone I know who hopped on the bandwagon in that first month back in 2005 have deleted theirs by now, some more than once. Sorry to see you all go, but I'm still around and I have no intentions of leaving. Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading. Over the last two years I've picked up a gaggle of regular readers, some of who I've lived with, others that I've been long time friends with, more that I've become friends with, and even some I've never met. Sorry the content is usually so lame, but it is what it is. That being said...

I got 10th today in Morrison. The race was on almost the same course as three weeks ago, with a few modifications. I like the course a lot, but it's hard with a fair amount of elevation gain each lap, some technical sections, and today, a lot of mud, snow, and ice. I had a great start, 4th across the start/finish, but quickly moved back. I jumped around between 8th, and 11th, but settled in to a comfortable position and got 10th. I was really hoping for more, but it wasn't there. I think the course was good prep for nationals coming up here in two weeks (if the course in RI is anything like it was last year), and I'm feeling more confident in the slippery stuff all the time. I think my work at the park this week paid off a lot, as I felt like I could carry some decent speed through some slick corners.

This week will probably be fairly busy with school wrapping up, but I think I'll be able to get through it. I'd like to send a big thanks to my lady friend Ambrette for freezing her tail off the past couple weeks to run around the courses and cheer for me. It's a huge help and I appreciate it. That's all for now. Thanks for checking in. I hope you look forward to the next 200 boring posts as much as I do. Sorry for the lack of photos this new blogger beta thing sucks.