Ladies Ladies Ladies.

Corey's Rambling is moving. We'll see how it works out, but it looks good for right now.

The new and improved Corey's Rambling version 2.0

or

http://coreycrlsn.wordpress.com

Click on over and check it out yo.

Thanksgiving.

Quick update.

I haven't been writing on here much, mostly because I haven't been racing much. The Boulder UCI races were fun, I felt great, but that was good enough for placing in the 40's and getting lapped EARLY. Oh well, what can you do when Trebon is lapping into the top 20?

My big news is that next year I will be riding with the Rio Grande - Jose Cuervo team. It should be a great fit as I know most of the guys, work for the sponsor and have the same goals as the rest of the team. More to come on this later.

I've never felt personally touched by a blog...

But for some reason, Brad Huff struck a nerve.

On a separate note, I sucked this weekend.

Rest Weeks.

I guess I took a couple weeks off from updating here. There just wasn't that much excitement happening around here to write about though.

My parents were here a couple weeks ago and saw me race at Interlocken in Boulder and in Evergreen the next day. I didn't have great races either day, and Sunday was snowing and freezing cold.

Last weekend I did a ride with my DU kids on Saturday morning, then rode in their homecoming parade in the afternoon. Sunday was the race at the Boulder Reservoir which is always one of my favorites. It went alright, with me finishing 12th and making 45 bucks hopping barriers. Barrier hopping has become quite lucrative for me lately, hopefully there is an opportunity at the UCI races this weekend.

That's about all. I opted out of the Wednesday Worlds ride in Boulder this morning and stayed warm in my bed. That drive is starting to get to me. I'm off for a run right now to make up for missing a good workout. I wish there was a good ride like that in Denver. Oh well, thanks for checking in, enjoy your days.

Oh yeah, if anyone has pictures from this past weekend at the Res, I would love to see them. There were a few photographers around the course, but I have no idea who they were.

A big congratulations!

Goes out to The Good, The Bad, and The Nerdy for bringing home the gold at the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in Providence, RI this weekend. I was hoping to be able to make the trips with the nerds, but was unable to, and it looks like I was the one who really missed out. All the hard work, lack of dates, and overabundance of pimples has finally paid off.

On a side note, I went 5th and 4th on Saturday and Sunday respectively in Gunnison this weekend. Awesome courses, great weather (for my races) and small fields led to some good racing for me. Hopefully I'll be finishing this high up next weekend on the Front Range.

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

Karma.

It's a bitch.

So I used to pull this mean prank on UNC group rides. Whenever I was on the front and saw any roadkill (which was plentiful in Weld County) I would slow up, allowing the person behind me to get real close, head straight for the squirrel or whatever was dead on the road, and hop over the dead animal at the last second. This would cause whoever was behind me, usually Brian, to run right through the dead creature. This was always funny, I'd laugh, we'd carry on with our ride.

So. As I mentioned earlier, the barrier hopping paid off on Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. I started strong, too strong. I won the holeshot, lead for a little bit, settled in back a few spots and then continued to drop back as the race went on. The legs that were there the day before decided not to show up, and I kept losing spots as the race went on. With 3 to go, I was told I would get a 2 second bonus for ever successful bunny hop, so I decided to try my luck at the 4 pack of logs next to the pits. On that lap I made it over, just barely, got cocky and hit it with more speed the next lap.

This time, instead of making it through the barrier section, I hopped the first one, plowed into the second, flipped straight over my bars, and landed face and shoulder first on top of the third. It rang my chimes pretty good, but I got up and finished without losing any places, although I did run the barrier section on the final lap, then quickly left with my tail between my legs.

Back to the Karma. Sometimes the bunny hop pays off, literally and figuratively, but other times it bites you in the ass. Hopefully I was simply paying off my debt to anyone who has had a run in with roadkill, and it will be smooth sailing from here on out. We'll see how this weekend plays out.

I'm off to Gunnison for another pair of BCR Cross races so wish me luck.

Thanks for checking in.

Yesterday.

DU group ride at 9:00. I only went an hour so I could get up to Frisco for the first of two cross races up there this weekend. The course was good, nice mix of road and dirt with a little grass. I could have used a little more grass, but what can ya do, this is Colorado and I guess we don't really race on grass anymore.

There were a few barrier sections, two of which utilized logs from the front of parking spots, they were sitting on top of other short logs that supported each end, like Lincoln Logs I guess. Anyway, the first barrier was a real wooden one, on an uphill in woodchips. I hopped it in warm-ups, but after climbing up to it in the race I had visions of crashing like I did in Littleton, so I opted to get off and run. Then we climbed more on pavement, pavement descent (wierd) and then some loose twisty stuff, down to a tight LOOSE turn around some bleachers (which I almost ate a few times), then 4 log barriers really close together. I couldn't get my timing right through these until the last few laps, then a little more tight twisty stuff, a little grass, then a 90 degree left hander into a log barrier at the bottom of a small rise. This is where the excitement of my race happened.

I started top ten, moved up over the first couple laps, into 3rd by the end of lap 2. I was hopping that single log barrier, and it was right in front of Dave and there was a little crowd gathered around it. The crowd started getting into me hopping the log, so I think I got bigger cheers than the leaders. The crowd started handing out money, so I started grabbing it. In the end I walked away 6th or 7th after fading on the climbs, but 55 dollars richer. Boo Ya.

I'm off for round two. Thanks for the pics Greg.

Quick list of excitement in my life.

-Went to a Guster concert at The Fillmore a couple weeks ago. It was awesome.

-Went to Boise for a week with Jami to visit her sister and brother-in-law. Her parents also flew in from Seattle for the weekend. We all had a lot of fun.

-I did a local cross race out there on Saturday. It was right up there in the top 5 best courses I've ever raced. I had so much fun that I almost forgot about the way my stomach and head felt after the late night we had the night before. I still managed a 2nd place, results are here under schedules. There were a couple barriers I could hop which always makes the racing that much more fun.

-Watched the Rockies finish off the regular season in the best possible fashion they could have. We were at a bar just down the street and the whole place was on their feet, screaming the entire 13th inning. I'm just starting to get my voice back.

-I'm now working a lot this week, hopefully I'll make a ton of cash, we'll just have to see.

-This weekend is a set of races in Frisco, CO. I think I had a decent race there last year, hopefully luck will be on my side this weekend as well.

-I'm going to go ride right now with Eric Moore, the cyclocross phenomenon from the University of Denver.

Cross Races 2 and 3.

I sucked this weekend.

Two flats on Saturday in Colorado Springs.

Sunday, (today) was in Littleton, and I just sucked. No power, stacked it up 3 times trying to hop stuff I shouldn't have. On the bright side, I should have some Grade A pictures on the way from Joe over at PelotonPhoto.

Thanks for checking in.

P.S. Whoops..

Cross Race #1 in the books.

Sunday marked the infamous first cross race of the year. I was really dreading this effort, and expecting a pretty bad race, but things ended up going much better than I'd anticipated. The race was at the Breckinridge Nordic Center, so I expected the altitude to play a pretty big role, but I didn't feel it that much during the race.

Things started well with me taking 3rd wheel through the first corner. By the time people were done taking stupid risks and plowing into the barricades as well as each other, I had drifted to 8th or so. I picked off a couple guys, got passed by one, and picked up another place or two due to mechanicals in front of me. I ended 6th, which isn't winning, but I feel like it's a solid start to the season. Last year in the first race I SUCKED and was lapped with like 3 laps to go. Felt good to be lapping people this year.

The course had a couple cool parts, one really short steep run up, a single barrier followed directly by a large hump that you went up and over with a little left turn. I was able to bunny hop the barrier and hold a ton of speed over the top and down the back side, almost too much speed. I passed a guy who had dismounted, and passed him on the outside over the hump, I almost didn't make the corner and came close to testing out the large pad that was strapped to a tree trunk on the side of the course. It was sweet to hear the little crowd standing around the barrier react. There was also an uphill double barrier that I sucked on pretty bad. I think I had 3 bad remounts on it in 11 laps. I definitely know what I need to work on.

If passing the dude as I hopped the barrier and bumped shoulders with him was the "highlight" of my race, then kicking the second barrier in the double set and landing face first in front of a crowd of people was definitely the "lowlight."

Overall I'm happy, not content, but happy. There is still room to improve, but some specific training and the next two months of racing will hopefully fill in those holes. Now it's time to get to work. Thanks for checking in.

It's Ready.

It's actually been ready for almost a week now. I've been riding it more and more and I love it. It feels so good to be on a bike that fits the way I want it to. There are just a couple more things I need to completely dial it in, a new bar and stem, as well as about 18 inches of black SIS housing. I didn't have enough so I had to use a little red. Oh yeah, I'll put my FSA crank from my road bike onto it before the racing begins as well.

Other than that there hasn't been a lot going on. I've been a little lazy recently, but things are starting to turn around this week. I'm headed to Steamboat for a wedding this weekend, so there probably won't be much riding, but I'm planning on doing some running up there since cross is now knocking at the door.

My schedule is still up in the air. I'd like to do Cross Vegas, but it's not looking very realistic right now. I'd love to do some of the Gran Prix's, but with their exclusion of Colorado this year, I don't believe my pockets are deep enough to get there. I will however, be doing the three UCI races here in Colorado, as well as Nationals in Kansas this winter.

I suppose it's about time to dial in my schedule as it looks to be a busy fall of travel and racing. I will be headed to the Red Bull Soap Box Derby in Providence, RI in the middle of October. This does fall right in the middle of the season, but I made the commitment to support The Good, The Bad, and The Nerdy a long time ago.

Right now I think it's time to go get on that new cross bike and do some hard efforts. I was going to do the cross ride in Boulder this morning, but I still don't have mountain shoes, and clipping in with my road shoes and mountain cleats has proven to be harder than I thought it would be. If anyone would like to donate some cash for a new pair of shoes, let me know, I'd be glad to put your sticker all over my bike!

Speaking of stickers, my friend Scotty Boy, Scooter Louis, Wenzel finally made it home from a five and a half month stint in Belgium. He's got a lot of great euro-racing stories, as well as some sweet stickers that he shared with me. Those of you who know me well, know what a sticker feign I am.

Great, I just spilled coffee on my shirt.

I just realized I haven't updated since I officially moved to Denver. I know this is web log is supposed to be about bike racing, but it's mine so I'll write what I want.



I got back from Superweek and settled in a little bit. Things have been going great so far. My new roomate Kari (that's Kari above) and I have been having a lot of fun, and I'm really enjoying living in the city. I'll never be one to talk down about Greeley, I had a lot of fun there, and made some long lasting friendships, but this is just a nice change. I love that I can walk or ride my bike basically everywhere I have to go, and it's usually faster and easier to do than it would be to drive. Work is still just 10 minutes away by bike, and riding in traffic has gotten to be more fun than scary, which makes the commute that much better.


My girlfriend Jami (that's Jami above, I look a little... tired) graduated from nursing school and her parents and siblings came out for a week to celebrate. We went to the ceremony then had a little party in Greeley, then spent another crazy night in Denver, then I got to go spend another night with them, a little more low-key this time at a condo in Vail. The next weekend we headed east back to my old stomping grounds of Yankton, South Dakota, for the nationally observed Riverboat Days holiday weekend. Most of my friends from home were there, so Jami got to see the environment that I'm a product of, and why I am the way that I am.

Now that the crazy weekends have hopefully come to a close, I'm getting pretty excited for cross. I'm not planning on coming out with any huge bang, but like the past couple years, I hope to continue getting stronger through state championships and hopefully I can pull of a decent ride at nationals.

On one last note, I'd like to wish Mr. Evan "E-Strong" "The Sandman" "The Sandstorm" Sandstrom a happy 21st birthday. It was a long time coming (21 years), but now that it's here you better enjoy it, just not too much. I think we might have the next Cat. 4 Colorado State Cyclocross Champion in our midst. I hear great things come from people who start off racing The Squirrely Surly.

That's all I've got folks, thanks for checking in.

P.S. My friend Eric got a Wii and Tiger Woods 2008. It's probably the funnest video game I've ever played and I SMOKED Eric in Match Play and Stroke Play last night. Three under baby, whoop whoop!

What did you do to get ready for cross today?
cyclocross, cyclo-cross, veldrijden

Bling Blam.

More later.

I'm driving home.

Finally on my way back to Colorado after being gone for about a month.

The racing ended well, with a 33rd at the Downers Ave race. I skipped sunday, and spent yesterday with my parents. It was good to spend a little more time with them, my mom and I made it out for a ride on their tandem in the morning. She just sits on the back and chats, but keeps pushing harder and harder until I tell her we're going to coast. There are some big hills on the way home from the bike path, and I just thought we'd drop it into the granny gear and take our time. I ended up having to upshift at least two or three times because she would spin the gear out, and I would find myself doing no work at all. Here she is pushing me up the hills, but won't do the ride alone because she doesn't want to cross 57th street? Doesn't make much sense.

In the afternoon my dad and I played 9 holes of golf at the course right by our house. We alternated shots, which was a lot of fun, even if it seemed like we were trying to make it as hard on each other as possible. (I tried to chip onto a green, ended up hitting the ball at about a 90 degree angle to where I was aiming. Hit it right into a sand trap. My dads shot out of the sand cleared the green, so I got another chance to chip on and actually did that time.)

Now I'm on my way back to Colorado. Unfortunately Nebraska hasn't gotten any more interesting in the past month. My mom packed me a lunch, as well as sent a ton of cookies and special k bars with me. I was born over 23 years ago, and she was the first person I met. I've been very close to her ever since, she probably knows me better than anyone, yet still she sends boxes of really good junk food with me and actually expects me to share it with my roomate and girlfriend when I get home. Does she really expect me to sit next to this box of cookies for 9 hours and not touch it? Sometimes I feel like she doesn't know me at all.

Well, I should get back to driving, I wouldn't want to miss something exciting. Thanks for checking in.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The End Is In Sight.

The last couple nights races have been a bit of a let down. Thursday night in Sheboygan, the race started out alright, I won a $25 prime in the beginning of the race, but about 20 laps in, it started to rain.

The rain lasted 15-20 laps, and then it started to dry up. The relief was only momentary as the skies soon opened up, and it started to rain with some fury. I made it 3 more laps, but realized quickly that the braking performance of my carbon wheels and cork pads was getting worse by the second. There was a downhill corner and I was grabbing 2 fistfuls of brake coming into it and picking up speed all the way through. After the 3rd time through, feeling the 2 wheels drift as I slid through the corner, I decided enough was enough.

Last night in Kenosha was a boring race. 100 laps around a 1km, rectangular, 4 corner course. The course was pancake flat, with a headwind along one of the longer stretches, and therefore a tailwind on the other long section. The race would bunch up into the headwind, curb to curb, string out through the two following corners, stay strung out down the tailwind section and through the next corners, and then bunch up through the headwind section again. Somehow a group snuck away and quickly put a lap into the field. I unfortunately was in the middle of the pack trying to figure out how to move up without just jamming my bike into small holes in the field like everyone else was doing. I seriously spent about 70 laps trying to figure out the best place to move up, and finally just went up alongside the group on the tailwind section. It felt like a really big waste of energy, but it was the only place I could gain positions.

The last 10 laps were just carnage with people taking dumb risks and stacking it up all the way around the course. I stayed out of the wreckage, but only managed a 51st place. WHOO HOO!

Tonight is the "Great Downer Avenue Bike Race" and I guess it's a pretty big deal. 12,000 spectators, rumors of a $4,000 prime, 200 riders. Should be fun. I thought people were taking stupid lines, and unnecessary risks last night, it frightens me to think about what tonight has in store. I'd love to try and get off the front, we'll see what happens. There are probably 199 other people thinking the same thing right now.

Thanks for checking.

Oh yeah, if you work in any sort of retail industry where you deal with customers on a regular basis, remember, most people don't like it when you talk to your fellow employees like the customers aren't even there. They must have the "B team" on a Panera today. A kid that was on break just sat in my regular seat and talked to the kids behind the counter and bragged about how long he was on break for the past 30 minutes. He complained about how his feet hurt, he didn't like his job, he was annoyed with how slow it was, etc. and the people behind the counter just talked right back like it was no big deal. Meanwhile, customers continued to line up waiting to get their orders taken. Good work guys, good work.

Superweek blah blah.

I'm not sure what day it is anymore, I know it's Wednesday because that's what my phone tells me.

Last night was a crit in Cedarburg, the closest race so far to my host house. Good 4 corner course with a slight rise between corners 1 and 2, with a small sharp kick right before the corner, then long false flat decent into corner 3, more downhill into corner 4, and a long false flat uphill finish.

I was aggressive as I could be the first 20 minutes. I must have covered 3 attacks and instigated 2 in the course of 5 laps. I was really hoping I could get into the break for once, but it wasn't to be. The break did go while I was being active at the front, but I missed it and got shut down trying to go across. I decided then to rest for a minute and see if I could try again later, but as soon as I began to sit up, my legs got heavier and heavier. It seems I dug myself a pretty deep hole, and I was hurting just trying to sit in.

I realized halfway through last night's race that I was telling myself I was hurting a lot more than I really was, and I was losing the mental battle a lot worse than I was losing the physical race. I decided I'd keep resting, but I wasn't out of it for the finish. I felt better and better, and made a couple split second, smart moves, that got me to the front with 10 laps to go. I guess I was pretty lucky to do that as things got awfully dicey and aggressive with about 8 or 9 laps to go, and I was right up in the thick of it. I managed to stay toward the front even with all the swarming and shifts that were happening at the front end of the race. With 2 laps to go things really heated up, elbows getting thrown all over, people touching wheels and chopping each other in almost every corner.

Coming into the last corner I saw more aggressive riding than I think I've ever witnessed first hand, and as scared as I was I just kept focused on the wheel in front of me, and trying to hold my own line the best I could. I got around a couple people in the sprint, but also had a person or two come around me. With a small break up the road, and the big sprint just in front of me I finished up in 20th place. Good enough to get in the money for once.

It's funny to feel so excited about a 20th place, but I think I'm more excited that for once I held my own and overcame my own negativity that's been holding me back in these longer races. I'm really motivated now for the 4 more nights of racing out here, and especially for some local races when I get home. Bannock Street Criterium is my new "home" race, and I guess Rocky Mounts always throws an awesome barbeque party for the Niwot Criterium so hopefully I can pull off some good results for these end of the season races. After that it looks like a pair of crits up in the mountains, (Dillion and Copper Mountain I believe) and then it's time for cyclocross. Maybe it's just the 5 cups of coffee I've had today, or the extra energy from knowing I'm not racing tonight, but I feel like I'm catching a second or even third wind for the end of the season, I sure hope it continues to blow through cross nats.

Thanks for checking in, I need to go find a place to publish this from, it seems like my hour has expired at this cafe.

Okay, back to my Panera Bread hotspot. On one last note, everybody has opinions about all the recent doping busts at the tour. Guilty or not, (they probably are) the only thing I know is that for me, I'd rather be finishing 20th place in a little known race in WI and doing it clean, rather than standing atop a podium knowing that I broke every rule to get there, and I couldn't have done what I did without artificial help. I suppose you get the mentality that everyone is doing it, so you have to do it to beat them, but really you aren't beating anyone, you're just joining them in their tainted race.

Superweek Day 11?

Last night went pretty good. I felt good, able to ride at the front, and even managed to attack a time or two. I still can't seem to buy a lap off the front, but hopefully my time will come.

Today is the Tour of Holy Hill Road Race. Hopefully it goes better than the last road race we did. Right now I've got a full french press, and "Throw some D's" so loud my car is shaking, so the day is at least starting off right.

I used to think about immature things, you know like, do you love me? Do you want me? Are you gonna call me like you said you would? Is this really your real phone number? WAIT A MINUTE ............!

Thanks for checking in.

Superweek Day Off.

No racing today. I went to the Milwaukee Art Museum and walked around most of the afternoon. The building itself is really cool, you can see how the sun shield goes up and down on the left.


It's really a cool building in an awesome location. It opens out toward Lake Michigan, so the views out of the building are almost as cool as some of the sights inside. Unfortunately it was about 55 degrees inside and I didn't think to bring a snowsuit to Wisconsin in the summer, so I froze.


This has always been one of my favorite paintings and I had no idea it was there until I walked around a corner and there it was. A very nice surprise I guess.

Waterloo Bridge, Sunlight Effect by Claude Monet

Now I'm killing time at a new coffee shop near downtown. I just had a Sid Delicious sandwich, (most of the food is named after musicians). Tomorrow is another 100k crit. It'll be better than last night because I can't feel much worse. I wasn't into racing last night. My legs didn't feel like racing, my head didn't feel like racing, so I didn't race very long. Instead I caught the end of a little league game that was next to where we parked. I think it was more enjoyable at the moment than the race would have been.

Time to start acting and thinking like a bike racer again though. Too much negativity for me the past couple days. I always thought people were just whiners when they go to Europe and can't perform because of the setting they live in. Only now am I starting to get an idea what it's like to be somewhere less than ideal and still try to perform your best. It's not been working for me, so it's time for some changes.

That's all for now, if you're in Milwaukee, check out Roast Coffee Company on Locust and Maryland. Cool place, free internet. Boo ya. Thanks for checking in.

Driving to Green Lake.

We're on our way to today's race, and just passed County Rd. PP. There was a guy posing like he was peeing on the sign and his wife was taking a picture. Get it? PP - Pee Pee? Funny stuff.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Superweek Day 8.

Last night was better, still not good, but better. I was actually able to ride at the front, but drifted back of course just as the break went. The rest of the race was spent trying to get in position for a prime, but I couldn't even do that.

I moved from last to first in the chase in a couple laps between 4 to go and 2 to go, but was overtaken by the inevitable swarm, and finished the day off in 37th, probably 25th? in the field sprint, not that you can really call 25 "in" the sprint.

Tonight is another 100k crit. It's a longer drive, so I thought about taking it off, but I think I'll do this one, skip Saturday, race Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, skip Green Bay on Wednesday, and try to knock out the final 4 days of racing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That's the plan anyway we'll see how it plays out.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, tomorrow I'll go exploring on my day off, there are bound to be some pictures from that. That's really all I've got for now, thanks for checking in.

Superweek Day... I have no idea.

Racing the past few days has sucked.

Tuesday night it was my fault. I didn't eat in the afternoon, ate a ton just before the race, factor in heat and humidity, I got to find out what stomach cramps feel like during a race. I was fine at the back, but every time I wanted to move up, my stomach would turn to knots and I would start burping stuff up.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I don't even want to talk about. They made a huge deal about centerline rule, which I'm happy to follow. Some people will look to see where the ref is, then attack across the line if they are out of sight of the ref, I don't. I try to follow the rules as much as possible, and if I ever find myself on the wrong side of the line, I'm definitely not advancing my position, and I get back as soon as possible.

I got disqualified for crossing the centerline on a road that didn't even have the centerline marked. I was following the wheel in front of me, as well as half the field, but the ref rode up and said "263, 148, you're out of the race." Was 148, Richard England of Priority Health was 263. After we had a few choice words with the moto ref, he threatened to DQ us from more than just yesterday's race, so following the advice of Karl Menzies who was also DQ'd we drifted to the back and followed the neutral support for a lap. I'd had enough so I went home. Menzies followed the back of the race the entire 160k I believe, taunting them for going so slow the entire time.

Enough about racing, tonight will be a different story. Look to Menzies and England to ride aggressively all night.

The real reason of this post is to let me newest, currently biggest, pet peeve out of the bag.

Now I'm quite guilty of not shaving for a few days and letting myself get a little scruffy, but in my defense, I only have 8-10 whiskers on my face, so letting it grow isn't a big deal. Now the kid that just ordered a cinnamon roll at the panera bread I'm sitting at has a full face of "scruff," but it's neatly manicured around the edges and sculpted just perfectly.

That really bothers me. There is a guy racing out here that I've noticed is the worst case. The scruff never gets longer, always that "I haven't shaved in 5 days because I don't care how I look" length, and the edges are always razor sharp. This leads me to believe he's shaving his neck, and sculpting his sideburns daily to keep things perfect, and apparently trimming the "trendy scruff" to keep if from getting bushy. ugghh. Really gets me angry. I should just get over it, but I don't want to so I won't.

Thanks for checking in.

P.S. Guy at the counter turned around and his 6 inch rat tail is even less stylish than his trimmed facial hair.