Cross hurts in places I did'nt know could hurt

J-Pow's got nothin' on me!....

Some folks... perhaps 2 or 3, or maybe just one, have been razing me about my lack of blogging. Have you gotten your toilet water to flow in the right direction yet? Here ya go shags...

With some help with KCCX, Bill Marshall in particular. He established a quick program for the this Fall with Scott bikes and Verge clothing, with some help from Sram I built up a pretty sweet cross bike. The program is to develop into a more structured program for '09 running with the cross wave/somehow the hype of cross is not affected by the state of the economy.

I went into it, a bit naive, as to the beating the entire body gets. It brought back quick memories of my Mtb racing. I raced my way into shape, and certainly had my ups and downs. I had a few high lites along the way, almost winning 'Sram's most aggressive rider', http://www.theroaddiaries.com/?p=237 moving up from the 5th row into the top 10 in brief, then fading to 14th. Staying local has been fantastic, The Boulder Cups and other Colorado local cross races have offered huge fields and sweet courses. I'll probably re-think doing a cross race at over 9,000ft. (Frisco Cross) I've still got that smokers lung sting from that one.

Anyways, a few more to come. Colorado Champs and of course the big one in Kansas City. Course is looking fantastic and the weather is up to par for the desired true blooded crossers.

Enjoy some pics from Boulder friends/ KV , Rob O'dea

and my buddy old pal Mark Hickey... Thanks for the shots guys.

Dissimilar Bike Races

I took these pics the week before while on a training ride.

Approaching the finish. From the Mt. Evans, CO. hill climb race to Criterium Nationals in Chicago, bike racing in North America does offer quite a lot of diversity.

Mt. Evans was my first hill climb race, the race starts in Idaho Springs and summits at the top of Evans at exactly 14,135ft. The climb gains 6,920ft over the 27miles to the top. The gradient of the climb was not too severe, generally speaking, however once over the 12,000ft. point I rode in a high altitude state of bother. I struggled to follow the surges and could not find a nice rhythm. Due to the lack of air, my legs felt like noodles, it was as if there was a bad connection between the power I was out putting, to my legs. Anyways, I think it has to be raced a few times to adapt. Never the less I really enjoyed it as it's quite a unique event and hope to be more competitive in the years to come.

National Criterium in Chicago, based in Downers Grove, IL. The course is a 1.2mi. figure eight course, at 710ft. elevation and gaining 50ft. per lap. Does not seem like it but we actually climb 2,500ft. during our 50mi. race. I did not find a top result over the weekend, this race has always led me to consisant top 20's. I placed better in the Saturday night Pro/Am finishing 12th. out of a ridiculous 180 rider start list. Sunday, was a slow march through Downers and the pace did not suit me all that well, I teetered up in the front in the remaining laps but dodging wrecks along the way took everything out of me for the final lap finishing behind the pace at 17th. I do love this race and missing the podium last year in the pro race makes me believe in a fantastic result there someday.

Two different races; a grinding hill climb through the clouds, where you simply battle against yourself, to a high speed, fast pedaling, twisting and cornering course amongst 180 ambitious racers. Both have there high level of enjoyment, and I'm happy I got to ride both this year.

B-day Getaway

Sarah took me away last week for my birthday for a surprise bed & breakfast weekend getaway. Fantastic trip to Maroon Bells near Aspen. Some hiking and a bit of a pedal enjoying some of the best of Colorado.

So many things to do.

Making it Stick. 3rd place. Stage 5, Tour de Nez

With so much of this season being based on catching up and finding good form again, I am very happy to have finished up the Tour de Nez with a nice podium spot on the last stage. The 5km circuit was one of the best I have ever raced, located in the Northstar ski village, the course was either up or down, left or right or bumping a top brick roads through the winding village. With some luck I snuck away after the first few laps, accompanied quickly by some good help. We established a nice break. When then mid to late in the race we we're joined by some fresh horse power; 3 Bissell riders, including Aaron Olson gunning to make up 24sec. to win the overall. While it took a rather deep breath to compose myself with the new tremendous pace put by mostly Zirbel and his mates, which actually sched a few of our original break riders, I found comfort in knowing we would stay away to the line and perhaps I would have a chance for a win.

We did stay away, the field shattering behind us as the Kelly riders chased trying to save their overall while Olson saw time on his side. I hoped for a good sprint from to the line against the other 7 in our break, but maybe I waited to long in giving myself a good chance to win. Either way, 3rd place on the last stage makes me smile and perhaps I will build on this one and bring some more confidence to the next race.

Happy To Be Here

You know,,,, I wish I was in better shape, I wish I had the legs to make my moves stick, I wish I had a bigger suffer meter right now. But I don't, not yet. It's a hard sport to be patient and try to get through these races to find my form again having my competitive spirit. With that all said, I am happy to be out here again. I am grateful to those who believe in me and continue to support me. I've been back on the bike now for 3 months after taking Winter and Spring off the saddle. I am willing to go over the hurdles to get to the level I wish to be at. In time and opportunity.

Tour de Nez

Reno Casino Lights

Back tunrning the pedals in the races again. I'm Out in Reno, Nevada for the Tour de Nez that began tonight with a casino crit. 4 more stages to come. More soon. Thanks for the support!

The Peak to Peak Daze

I'm finally getting in some good solid blocks of training. The fitness is coming along well and now maybe I can start focusing on some key events in the weeks to come.
Got through last week with some good rides, almost a few epics.... and one of the days Winnie and I got caught in serious hail storm, while about 2hrs from home.
The Peak to Peak Highway still puts me in a daze, trying to sort that out. I'll just be patient in getting used to riding at 9,000-10,000ft for now, then bump it up some more in training for Mt. Evans.
Well, all in all happy days here getting in to form and getting some good rides in.

The road was all nice and clear...

But it was the End Of The Road at Just over 10,000ft. Have to wait a few more weeks.
A Cola fix in Ward.
The Mountain town Ward offers some scenic Mtn. Views...

Turning The Pedals

I started turning the pedals once again just a short 6 weeks ago. Maybe the nicer weather was a bit of a motivator, or just a strong desire to get back into some racing again. I'm beginning to map out some sort of season for myself, where I will include some NRC races for some race training and a select few to seek a good result. There will be quite a few nice races here in Colorado which will help with the form, down into the summer I will be keen for the Mt Evans Hill climb race. A type of race that I have never done, which excites me. I'll try to get up there a few times and sort out riding in thin air, the finish line is just above 14,000ft. OUCH!

Mostly, I am being patient as I am late in training and dont want to rush things, I have a few composite teams that I can join for some of the bigger events, but mostly will be riding under SRAM sponsorship as a privateer, which recently was the case for the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas. Sarah and I headed down there rather last minute with some new friends Kat, and boyfriend Chris Winn, an Aussie rider who is on a 6 month racing sting here in the U.S. He's just given a break on the mountain bike scence and now giving it a go on the road. SRAM helped me with some new threads and support while down there. The weekend of racing went rather well for me, for my first races and not having many miles in my legs. Friday's 110mile road race was my longest ride of the year and sneaking into the breakaway, though brought some publicity put in a serious hurt box! Thanks to the guys in the break who let me skip quite a few pulls. And big thanks to Jose, driving neutral Sram car to feed me while off the front. Besides the cramps and pains, it was great to be back in a race and see some of my old mates. I enjoyed doing the race with Sarah as she's getting really good at the feeding routines and keeping on top of things, mostly just nice and making it a family event for the both of us. I took the rest of the race from the rears and moto paced behind HeathNet's 3 day train. Even though boring, with the GC sorted out on stage one, it made the next three days very, very controlled and the reason I managed through it with out much form.

I'll be ticking of the k's now and sorting out a way to get to the next race.

Thanks for the support and Encouragement!

A dedicated Bilko

A recent job for Sram led me to a quick posting on this old thing. I guess the West is the best. An Ice storm in Missouri and just a few days later was rolling down the window for some fresh air in sunny California. Also, our new member of the family, Charlie. I am on the bike again and seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I've recently been using my language skills at the Boulder Hospital as one of they're Interpreters. The job has been good and rather mind expanding.

More to come from the Raby camp.

Thanks for the support and encouragement.