Just a couple of random shots from our home girl Cynthia to show people what the course was like. For out-of-towners having a look-see, you can see our beautiful Flat Iron mountains in the back ground.

The WB Ripping it to a Top 10 Placing last PM

So, the RM squadra had a good showing out there at the Short Track tonight. All categories represented from beginner to pro. Me, Longman, Bobby Mounts and The WB rocked the pro mens race at 7 bells. It had cooled off considerably by then. The course was rad and is used for 'cross as well. It's total jungle 'cross but fun. Fast and technical but SUPER DUSTY. As I type this, I am hacking. The whole course was a huge dusty haze.

There was a super big field tonight. Probably lined up 5 rows deep. Not sure how many though. I had a great start from the 2nd row and made it into the top 5 or 6 for 1 to 1.5 laps. The WB came by with Colby P on lap 2 and Colby punched it and I just could not cover that. Lap 2 or 3 Jon Baker on his cross bike (of course!) had a wash outright in front of me and I got jumped by a few more dudes in the mele. I put together all I have at this stage of my training and can feel the progress. I held my own and all said and done probably finished in top 20. I faded at the end but I am satisfied given the competition. I am making progress. The WB had a strong top 10 ride and he's primed for the MSC in Crested Butte this weekend. Good luck The WB!!

Some post race pics.

Longman, WB, me, Bobby, Freeride Zach and Boups.

Boups and moi.

The WB and Freeride.

...is luring me into the world of the two-niner. And one of my bros Mike Ahrens of Ahrens Bikes is interested in dialin-in one for me. Mike is one of the first people I met when I moved to the Bay Area. In fact, he had just completed a design for a senior year engineering project at Santa Clara when I met him literally the month I moved there in the mid 90's. It was a full suspension rig which Paul welded up for him. I just had to have it. Totally unique design. And so, it was done. Big and heavy...it was free ride before free ride. I had a White Bros DC110 triple crown and a tuned Risse Racing rea shock on that thing. Steel frame. Boing!! We proceeded to ride a zillion miles together in the rolling hills of CA from Napa's World Cup courses to epics weekend after weekend in Santa Cruz bombing the super secret stuff. Memories...

Well, Mike's all grows-dup now and so have his designs. D-E-L-E-C-T-A-B-L-E . He's applying is deep engineering and CAD piloting skills to manufacture lots of core bits such as lugs, stays, slider drop outs, etc that are almost too pretty to ride:

So I've posted the Moots to Craigs if any'n is interested. I love the Moots but I need to move on. The 29-er is calling.

Gotta give the "PRO" props out to my BelgianKneeWarmers homie for his capitalized use of PRO. Anything that is professional he indicates with a declarative PRO. Hilarious.

So in todays TdS, we had an un-PRO moment.

This is Frankie Schleck at the TdF in 06...and very PRO. Jersey up, victorious fists...OK maybe a bit too much monkey face, but Computer Sciences Corp gets their due in advertising so they can go and build more missile control systems:
Schleck at today's TdS stage...very un-PRO. We don't need to see your concentration camp victim chest, Luxie. The phlegm should have been wiped off too. Love you Frankie, but get PRO-er:

Holy shnikees! What a weekend! This was the full-up Father's Day Hall Pass and it was utilized in grand fashion with great buds, insane scenery and great racing/riding.

Tuba Brown, The WP and I hooked up the Winter Park Circuit Race this weekend. We hooked up with Bevans and lots of other good bros once there. The course and racing organization were both S-I-C-K!

Day one had me in charge of scooping up the boys here in Boulder in the grocery getter in the wee AM hours, loading up 4 bikes on top and trucking up to WP. We got there, reg'd and warmed up together by pre-riding a bit. $45 bucks race day....but if you saw the race org, courses and the scene and amenities you get afterwards, etc, the race entry fee was a non factor. Probably the best race and most use of technology to track riders I'd seen in a while! They had the results up by mid afternoon. Sick.

The race for us was three laps totaling about 23 miles. I did Expert Men 35+ and those guys did the pro/semi race. They sent us off in waves. As this was what I am considering my first real race this year, I had T in my head like Obi Wan to Luke saying "...just be sensible, don't go too hard in the beginning and have fun...".

The course was delicious as is ALL the riding in WP (now I know how it got the name: The Mountain Bike Capital of the World). The course started with a one time pass up a fire road climb leading into a flat fast double track and then into the single track where we stayed for the WHOLE race. I let some dudes pull me up that fire road and drafted them on the flat section and just put in an ever-so-tiny little attack to ensure I got in the woods first (I'm glad I pre-road this during warm up). Mission accomplished. I got into the trees first and I basically set my own tempo on the first major climb which I led, never in discomfort. I actually did not want to be there but just rode my own tempo and honestly I was thinking some dudes woudl want to pass but there was some sufferin' going on behind. Apparently it caused a 10 or 15 person selection so we started playing from within that group pretty much for the next 2 hours. The climb cantilevered up the mountain face, mini Alpe d'Huez style, until it crested and you begin a mad traversing speed section twisting through single track then bomber down hill for ages where every lap I would pass tons of dudes trying to gingerly get themselves down alive. Roadies...

I had a strong 1st half of the race faded just a bit racing totally within myself. Probably too relaxed! I was seriously saying to myself "should I push this?". I seriously did not want to blow my wad as I think the last cross country race I did was like 5 years ago! It's been all 'cross for the most part for like 10 years but I stopped doing MTB's around the time I had my first kid. I recovered well and then starting flying until I wrapped myself around a tree at almost full speed on lap 2. Dude, years of BMX and DS and it was an insanely rookie front wheel wash out that got the best of me. I got back on my horse after collecting myself shocked I did not crush my collar bone but it all stayed in tact! I got me some good bones (but huge blue green halo bruise on my whole shoulder). I finished up 10th on the day. 2 hours and change and 3000' of climbing between 8500 to 9500 feet. I consider this a good result of testing where I am at vis-a-vis za plan. It made me happy to know that all that suffering is helping.

The WB continued his assault here in the Rockies. 3rd place for him in an impressive sub 2 hours. He'll be strong this year racing with me in 35 Open 'cross. It'll be great to have a team mate. The most impressive thing in his class was Walt from Walt Works (a frame builder here) take 2nd on his single 29'er! Tim Faia-esque. There were a MAD amount of 29'ers there racing. it's really here folks. Tuba had a strong race until the single most bizarre mechanical I'd ever seen. A ring on his ti-cassette actually sheared off! (Picture below). He finished up with limited gears in an impressive time.

Day 2 was all about the flow. I was dying to ride my single speed so WB took Tuba and I on a traversing all single track ride that was just perfect. I was in awe. I mean, we were FINDING single track that was absolutely perfect. Unmarked, technical. Jumps. Log crossings and obstacles. Tuba and WB had to let me go first even on the 1 x 1 'cause I was bombing it....railing that stuff completely zone like and could not help myself with the shit eating grin frolics down that juicy hidden single track. It ended up being another big day in the saddle at about 3 hours, 3K of climbing but all on the 1 x 1 to get a nice huge work out in to start the week right. Insane single track up there.

Most fun of all was the chilling. WB has this totally awesome little cabin he bought years ago up near Winter Park. Perfect. We chucked horse shoes, worked on bikes, had a couple of beverages. Insane fun. Thanks WB.

No racing or riding pics, but some stuff at the cabin.

Every time I say the name of that city, I get the image of ice skaters, luges and ski jumps. Tomorrow and Sunday will be all about the single track and the epics. It's Daddy's Day weekend (there's still time to get your pop a gift!) and my lady is inspiring me to get with the boys this weekend. She rules. Me and The WB are going to do the WP race and hook some of the single stuff on Sunday with Bobby Mounts and Longman.

Have a look at the WP Series web site. Awesome. You can preview trails and get all kinds of good stuff on the site.

Hopefully some pics over the weekend.

The work tip is moving along out here in CA. Lots of biz being discussed and strategy is a good thing. Our HQ is in my old home town of SF but we are in Pleasanton in the East Bay to do some off site focusing. Got out this morning for a run near the hotel in classic California open space. I miss it. Amazing to run at sea level again. It's been some time since I've been able to do that. I hate running but it's got to be done. It was like being on EPO. Drinking oxygen and floating up the hills. Awesome.

Done with the first big block of za plan. I am well into the 20K feet of climbing mark. Some of it slow at certain watts, other portions at vomit inducing intensity. 10 lbs of body weight shaved since the start a month ago. Now begins a nice break.

The powertap has been good. Mechanically it has worked perfectly (knock on wood), and psychologically it has helped me immeasurably. I can see and know precisely when to chill, and when to get it on, full gas. Courses I trained on will never be looked at the same. Before it was: "Oh shit, here's that steep pitch. Just keep spinning the legs fast and don't blow up.", Now it's: "...ramp it up to 450 watts, hold, back it to 350, hold..." and before I know it, I'm out of that section spinning faster coming out of it than I'd ever had before. Fresher...and faster.

Travel this week but it's perfect timing for it. Gonna stay off the bike, maybe run but za plan is kind to me this week. Good food is at the core of my week to keep the body humming.

So, Richard Groovy Groenendaal has had a busy month. His lady gave birth to their second baby, has announced his new team and lastly indicated he'll be working with a frame builder on some projects.

More importantly, our man indicated that his priorities are racing at the SP's, GVA's but more importantly the WK's. Further, he called out the rising scope of American 'cross and that the Euro's must come and hit teh WK here.

On CycloCross Info he says:

Now I can drive my own program. Thus my preference goes to Superprestige , GvA - and the World Cups. The World Cup belongs in America too. I think that we're obliged. Racing the World Cups in Europe has brought us all a lot of money. Now the sport is getting its feet on the ground in America and we can not be absent there any longer.

I am stoked Mr. G put some props out to US 'cross. The 3 silvers at Worlds this year must have been a wake up call. I'll be routing for him if we actually get the WK to come to Providence.

Who's thinking cyclocross! I am! I am! In fact, I never stop thinking about it. I just watched the 2000 Worlds again for the zillionth time last night. Love watching Groovy-daal work the mud. In other words, I watch and study 'cross as an obsession. Rewinding again and again and again to see how Ik Sven takes a line with insanely low tire pressure in the Dugasts; *or* how Erwin ports the bike Belgie style, finessing the bike on to his shoulder and arm around the head tube in such syncopation you need to see it in slow motion; *or* how De Clercq stutter steps his muddy climbs to conserve energy.

It's all in the details and that's where cross races are won and lost.

So, what makes a cross rider great? Technical savvy. I love putting pain to roadies who fumble through 'cross courses like a deer trying to walk across ice. 'Cross, if you haven't figured it out yet, is a game of not only sheer maintenance of power but also of utter grace. The power keeps you at the front but the grace ensures it is damn near impossible to bridge to you.

Technical savvy off the bike is what makes the best cross riders the best. And to be specific, it's the barriers that above all are the bottleneck and gating factor (no pun intended) to those desiring a podium spot. When you can flow effortlessly through the barriers and reduce all amounts of friction through your transition and get back on the bike fluidly, folks without those same skills fumble, waste energy and when they finally remount and get going again, they have to add those additional watts of power to get back on your wheel. Compound that wattage expenditure over the course of 60 minutes and those without your barrier skills have burned WAY too many matches.

So, how do you get better? Practice, dummy. And to practice you need barriers. Back in the day, we used to drive our cars to a schoolyard and pull out wooden boards we'd made. That is retarded, and this will enable you to be mobile by bike, carry 'em in a back pack and have LOTS of barriers as well to set up multiples. So in my quest to make American 'crossers LOOK way better than our stereotypical bumbling selves, behold my secret plans.

What do you need?

For 4 complete barriers you need

• 16 22" sections of 1/2" PVC tubing (for the top bars).
  
• 16 18" sections of same 1/2" PVC tubing (for the legs). NOTE: you may want to go as high as 19" for a bit more height on the leg tubes. The 18" tubes are high but just slightly lower than the UCI height.
  
• 8 3-way joins for 1/2 tubing (buy extra 'cause they break)
• 12 2-way joins for 1/2 tubing (buy extra 'cause they break too)

This is what the 2 and 3 way sections look like (the 2 way on the left, 3 way on the right). You can find them near the PVC tube section in your hardware store.

I drafted up a little diagram for y'all in Visio to show you how this stuff fits together:

When you get them all cut up, throw some stickers on the long top sections. This makes it SUPER easy when you get to your course site and pull 'em out of your back pack to know which are the top and which are the leg tubes. They all fit nicely into a backpack as follows:

And when you are at your site, set 'em up (takes about 2 minutes) and begin your practicing to dominate the competition! RM'ers training using the port-o-barriers in action: