It's finally silent in my head. The thrashing going on inside was like none other I'd experienced before, during or after a race in an attempt to separate the signals from the noise on what I'd witnessed and felt. The success from the failures. The amazing experiences to the let downs.  Trying to parse out what 2013 would be like for me after this experience. I needed a few days to separate myself from Louisville. And days later after re-entering the atmosphere of home and work, I am still tired to the bone. My ears still ringing from the roar of the crowd all day Saturday at the elite race. My vocal chords still shredded from screaming my guts out at my friends and racers streaking by us lap after lap. My legs and soul equally cashed from the racing we did the week before. A needed few days of separation between all of this and my last race season, the Master's World Championship. I learned so much this trip…like I continue to learn year after year. But the questions in my head I intimately know the answers to still surface. Why do I still feel impulsed to put my hand back in the white hot flame? I know what the results will be as I watch my own flesh bubble. But why do I put back in again? And again? I'll answer that. 

So much was different between this race and the first Worlds I'd done in Mol, Belgium a few years back. Quite honestly, this was more like "U.S. Nationals Part Deux" than a World Championship...although the lone Euro from Spain in our group (40-44's) Marco Prieto, who I give props to for making the journey over to participate, certainly was a worthy World's challenger as we'd come to find.

Click to read more ...

Holy crap. Cross has made it, folks. A print magazine being assembled by some home boys in CA is on its way to press. People crazy brave enough to do this must be passionate about the sport and that makes me smile.

Read the blog and help them out with some of their voting choices for the publication. I'd expect they'd want some help with regional coverage as well as cross is exploding virtually everywhere. It's the sport of the future! Unlike kick boxing.

Cross well.

...can do a commercial like this, we absolutely suck here in CO:

This world is a small one. Christine --> Dave V --> Mike A --> Moi.

Talk about LinkedIn!

Christine (whom you see below in various posts) announced a relationship with Dave's VanderVitten team. Rad.

Dave is an old dual slalom cohort of mine. We used to travel to the most remote, cooter-infested reaches of CA to race our bikes on these slogs of dirt jumps dudes with a Bobcats would build. Passion is a fairly 'limited' world to describe Dave's bike lust. He and Mike have built a great duo in the VanderKitten squad. Mikes bikes are sick and Dave's new team concept and kits are rad. More women!! Great combo.

Mike A is like a brother and built some of my early dual slalom bikes, FS bikes, etc. I am HIGHLY anticipating my new Revolver 29'er from him!! Can't want to put it through its paces and start channeling the feedback.

It's truly amazing how small the world is. 6 degrees? This is like 3, stretching from California to Belgium.

'Cross specific training is on. Transitioning from all that climbing to speed flat land power combined with getting the body ready for the repetition of all the cross specific stuff is beginning to take over and take precedence.

On the bike...pedal...off the bike...port...remount...pedal....repeat repeat repeat. I love it. It's like meeting an old friend again you love hanging out with.

What'd y'all do today to get ready for cross?

...were worn today for the first time in a LONG time. The air was a bit damp and while you did not really need them, my recovery ride today was slow and nice...and the arms and legs kept the sore tired muscles nice and warm. Pulling back into the garage to put the bikes away before work, i saw my embrocation oils sitting there with a layer of dust on them. I opened it up, took a whiff of its minty fresh effervescence and smiled.

Cross begins in one month.

This weekend was annihilating. This was the final week of tearing the body down and working on weakness by climbing ridiculous amounts on Sat and Sun. Again, both days saw 4-6 pounds of weight reduced after each ride....even while madly consuming liquids during the rides. The switch to speed, moto pacing and the stuff my 6'2" carcass was meant to do takes off going forward. Mmm.

Clinics soon folks. Got to get my schedule worked out.

Do something 'crossy today.

So my homies and I are discussing this in a fairly heated way. That is, the brake routing debate. Moto style is left brake managing the rear cantis and the right brake managing the front. I suspect anyone reading this site is a cross geek and knows why your do this but or those who don't, I'll explain:

If you dismount on the non drive side and coast into barriers to run through (or run up as it were), having your left hand on the left hood will activate the REAR brakes and theoretically give you superior control of the bike to take the edge off speed you may need to do. You and I know you should not be touching them at all coming into barriers, but there's always that 'sometimes' to correct speed like in the event there is an apex into the first barrier. So if you're Sven Vantourenhout, this all doesn't apply because you dismount drive side and the brakes are logically in the right place.

So what';s the point of the post? Who does this? Maybe purists and traditionalists (and Joe Ball) but all the Belgian heavies I see from Bart-man to Sven (please say NICE) Nijs to others run normal MTB/road style. I've never run it moto style and never had a problem in a decade. Maybe I'm missing something?

Nah.

Evidence:

What did YOU do to get ready for 'cross today?

Check this sheeit out that Molly Cameron sent to me in a post below. Unbelievable. I need to get my Boulder-based bambinos all sorts of 'crossed up soon to compete against this kind of talent!! I guess we have altitude on our side, but this little champ has skeeeewz:

I linked to this through Gwadzilla's site. Thanks man! Awesome video of Ben Turner's Boulder Based TIAA-Cref/Clif Bar cross team. They are having problems getting funding from what I hear folks (will dril in to this more to see what's up) but is the deepest in terms of junior to espoir-level 'cross mentoring we have in thi9s country ) props to Alan and Rad Racing too!).

So I put a post up for my Scott Team CX a while back and have had some inquiries. Here are some photos of the frame, fork and post and a single ring set up with DA cranks I'll throw in. I have the BB too. $5hundy.