I have a blog!?

I was just cruising through some peoples blogs when I realized that I have one as well and I haven't touched it for a while. That seems to happen after after big events like nationals as I start to think about taking time off the bike and get lazier. Well I haven't been all that lazy. I've spent the last few weeks in a classroom getting me ready for a co-op type of course. I just finished my last in class day yesterday and will be getting a placement at a training gym soon. It's a pretty cool program for those who think they know what they want to do but aren't sure what is involved with that career. So for the next few months I'll me studying and getting experience in the field of personal training and group training for different sports like hockey, soccer, speed skating, Olympic lifting and other sports that I have never taken part in. Should be a good experience.

So needless to say that I haven't been doing much riding at all lately and I'm starting to feel the effects when I race. I don't feel really slow or out of shape but I seem to be lacking the ability to attack or get out of the comfort zone. Maybe I'm just getting soft. So I'm thinking that this weekend will be the final race of the season at Sunnydale park. I'm still in the overall lead for the series so I feel like I should finish it off and try to hold the lead.

In other news (for those who care) I picked up the new Gran Turismo game yesterday. It's been years since they announced this game and I have been expecting a lot in return for the long wait. I haven't gotten very far into it yet but I can already tell that I'll be spending some solid hrs with it this winter. The graphics alone Are worth the wait but there are so many cool new features and a stupid amount of cars. So far I'm rocking the Asian beast known as the Honda civic. Pretty gutless... but there is much to look forward to including a Nascar series! Ok I think I should leave because if I don't this post will get very long. If you like fast cars and are like me and can't afford to get one for real then I suggest you get this game!

All for now.

Well the hillbilly has come and gone. This year was the nuts! Snow and mud puddles every where. I'll admit I was not fully prepared for those conditions. Didn't bring warm enough clothing and paid for it. It was the coldest race I've ever done. I could feel every muscle just slowing down as I got colder. Well actually I couldn't feel much at all! The race is kind of a blur know but I managed to tough it out for second. So no jacket this year but half way through the race I honestly didn't care anymore. All I could think about was getting across the finish line and getting dry and warm. And that brings me to the post race de-thawing process. I've experienced the burning sensation before but this was by far the worst I've had it. It felt like my hands and feet were it a fire for a solid 10mins. I looked pretty pathetic but at the time I really didn't care. I'm pretty sure that Peter was filming it so if you have that vid Peter send it my way please. Pretty sure it would be quite comical to see now. After getting cleaned up, going to the podium and have Andrew taunt me with the coveted Hillbilly jacket I went home and crashed.

The next few days were rough as I was really tired still from the race. Kept things pretty chill doing a bit of riding and took care of some school stuff that had been neglected for a while. Feeling much better now. Got my bike almost all sorted out for this weekend. It was pretty wrecked from the race. Looking forward to the battle between us u23's. It should be some good racing. Looks like rain the next few days so I might be throwing on the new mud wheels complete with Rynos! Hoping for mud to make things more interesting. See you all there!

Best bad race

After last weekend I had to take it easy for few days as I was pretty destroyed. 2 days of chasing a group of fast guys into a head wind proved to be hard on the legs. But Maybe it was good training because when I got back on the bike I felt really good. So as long as I could keep that good feeling I was confident that I would have a good race at provincials.

Lets skip ahead to race day. Turns out the good feeling stayed with me and I woke up dying to get on my bike. hmm... pretty uneventful up until the race. Just rode the course a bit and chatted with all the good cross folk while watching the 11:30 race.

Got lined up next to Andrew so that I could get in his head a little bit before that race. Don't think it worked though because he went off the start and took the lead right away. I had a good start and was able to get right on his wheel with no trouble from anyone else. Through the first set of corners I was content to just sit on Andrew and let him set the pace. There were a few passing attempts by Mr. Hughs but I had to shut them down as I did not want any separation between me and Andrew. Sorry Zack. Once we hit the hill section of the course Andrew and I had some separation. Then he took a fast sweeping corner wide and I ripped it on the inside and past him. May have been some smack talk going on. But When we got to the top of the course I blew a corner and he was quick with a come back.

After the first lap we had a good sized gap. That would mark my most successful attempt at staying with Andrew to date. And I was still feeling good. Going into the second lap Andrew upped it. I reacted and stayed on him. I had a feeling he was hurting more then he was showing so I stuck with it. Coming back into the hill section again. Put it in the a small ring and SNAP goes the derailleur hanger. Got off my bike, sat down and pouted like a 5 year old for a bit. After watching the rest of the field go by I shook my head and said what are you doing you fool! Picked my bike up and ran it into the pits. Got on the old ridly and tried to restart my race. Legs felt weird after the run and the bike felt really awkward. Took me a few laps to get used to the added weight and different position.

With 3 to go I got a bit of a second wind and picked it up a bit. I really started picking guys off after that. It wasn't long before I had moved into 4th in the u23 and could see 3rd at some of the cross over sections. By the beginning of the last lap he was just up ahead. Once I caught him he put in a good effort to stay with me. So I punched it to try and break his spirit a bit. Before the finish I managed to catch and pass Peter Morse which would have put me 7th Elite.

So not what I had in mind but definitely not disappointed. It gave me the chance to work on some mental toughness and made me push harder. After looking at the lap time I noticed that my last 3 laps were faster then every ones. So There are a lot of good things to take away from this race.

Today I chose not to race and just do a good endurance ride which I need to get started with. It's gonna be a cold one I think.

T.O day 1

Here's a short take on how today went. Finally got on the front row. Had a good start and sat in with the fast guys for about a minute. Didn't ride as aggressively as I should have and got past by a few guys who were slower through the hills and corners and lost the lead group. Once we hit the straits I past the guys in front of me and desperately tried to Chase down the group ahead. It was hard because there was a good head wind and I was the only one in who seemed interested in chasing. So I pretty lead into the head wind for the whole race and picked off guys that were falling off the lead group and kept riding past them. I probably could have let someone else take the lead and recover a bit but I won't lie I wanted to catch Evan Mcneely who had a great start and was sitting in with leaders (sans Fretini). So I kept drilling it for the whole race. Got caught by Andrew and pulled him around for a bit. Then he picked it up again and I was to blown to stick with him. The last lap I blew a corner in a fast section and was gaped by Mark Lalond who had stuck on my wheel for most of the race. Once I got up and back on my bike he had a good gap. I was able to close the gap a bit but didn't have enough time to seal the deal.

Ended up 7th 2mins down on Fretini. Looking forward to tomorrow. It's goin down! Looking at you Evan.

Will you go easy on us please

My words as I was in line for the washroom talking to Dave Fratini of the Italian National team. That's right we had some international talent at an non uci Ontario race! He's here for the uci race next weekend and for thanks giving with family here. He heard about the race from Eric Box and said hey why not?

So Here's how the day went down. Got up feeling a bit tired from a very active recovery day yesterday. It was worth it. Had too much for breakfast but it was also worth it. Yum! Headed over to Toronto with My dad, my Bro and Tristan Smit. Got there at 10:30ish and watched the early race and checked out what was in store course wise. Lots more uphill and strait aways then last weekend. And one very off camber section that people were getting me all worked up over. Jumped on for a lap after the race was over and it wasn't so bad. But the course was very physical. It had the first real run up of the year which was unrideable because of the steepness (is that a real word?). Then watched the next race witch included the juniors and women. Small junior fields this year. Only 3 today. I guess most of them have moved on to new categories this year.

Then it was go time for me! Got in a few more laps for a warm up. Then waited around for a bit by the start. Got board there and went to ride some more on the course and ended up being late to the start line. Missed the front row again. But squeezed in on the second row which was alright. Had a good start and managed to blow by the 2 guys the row in front of me. Settled into the Fratini train and picked 1-2 off on every strait section. It wasn't long before I was in the front group of Batty and Fratini. So I settled in and let Dave do the leading and learned as much as I could by watching him. Very smooth on the pedals and never seems to make mistakes.

After a few laps of following Dave eased up a bit and we all started looking at each other. I noticed that A chase group was closing a bit and decided that I didn't want them to catch on so I took the lead and pushed hard. I knew there was no chance of gaping Fratini but I thought maybe i could shake Mark. But after about half a lap I was hurting pretty bad and the other 2 were still sitting on. After a 1.5 laps I pulled over to let Dave by again and sat on his wheel and tried to recover. And guess what happened next? He upped the pace and gaped me a bit. It wasn't long before Mark decided to come by to try and close the gap. I managed to get on his wheel and stay there.

We were still gradually losing Dave and the lapped traffic wasn't helping us any. Then i made a few mistakes getting clipped in and Mark got a gap. I was able to drill it hard and close up but whenever I got close my right pedal would give me more trouble getting clipped in. And as Mark Accelerated away again I was still fumbling with my pedal. So the last few laps were spent with me drilling it try and catch back onto Mark and Mark drilling it to make sure I didn't get back to him. The last lap I manged to not have any pedal issues and got close to Mark again. Came around the last corner with him only a few bike lengths ahead but he has a kick that I couldn't match. But in fight with each other we were able to close the gap a bit on Fratini and could see him crossing the line as we hit the last corner into the finishing strait.

So that was that. 3rd for me but definatly a satisfying 3rd. And all the big Ontario hitters were there (- Watson) so I'm happy about the race. Also it was good to see more cross newcomers like and Adam Morka, Preston Wagler and another appearance by Ty Wag. Feel like I'm missing someone.

Well that's all for today. Looking forward to a long ride tomorrow with Tristan and Jamie and possibly others. See yall next weekend at Centennial!

Running over birds and elderly people

Don't be alarmed by the title. I managed to not do ether of those things. But It was hard not to at the race last weekend as someone had thrown some seeds on the course and every time a came around there would be a flock of them to dodge. This could be a new course standard for cross races as it adds another skill to master.

Anyways the race was great. Got lined up second row because A newcomer fresh out of junior sniped my spot on the front row. No matter. Just sat in for the start and let him destroy himself for a bit. Then I took the lead and settled into a nice hard pace. Looked back a lap later and no body was there. So I figured I was doing something right so I kept that high pace and made sure to punch it on the hard parts of the course. Speaking of the course I'm really glad to see that Ziggy has upped the level of course design for nationals. It was Quality with Good hard sections to put yourself in the hurt locker and awesome tech sections to keep you on your toes. So back to the race. I could see how much of a gap I had each lap and every lap it was opening more and more. It was a good feeling to be off the front like that but I missed having to chase Mr. Watson around. Ended up taking the win by 2mins. It was a fun race and I look forward to the race this weekend as it's put on by the same organizers and I'm hoping for an equally fun course.

Training this week has been going well. Most of my time is spent on the cross bike in the woods or at parks. The only problem with that is sometimes you scare the walkers. For example I came up on a pair of elderly women the other day. I wasn't going fast so that I wouldn't freak them out. I nicely called to let them now I was behind them. But with no reaction. Then I noticed the hearing aids. So I figured i would have to call louder to be heard. And So I called louder. Still no reply. So I called out almost yelling this time and they both jumped out of fear. And as I rode by I received a slur of verbal abuse for scaring them. Oh well I tried being a nice guy.

That's all I have to tell right now. Exciting stuff eh!

Cross Is Here!

Point form catchup

-worlds was crazy. Bad start, dropped chain, crash, off the back, played the catchup game and moved up pretty well, crashed hard on rocky decent and don't remember much until the hospital.

So the MTB season is over and I am really satisfied with it. I achieved my goals and then some. So I can't complain about a bad race at worlds because I was just happy to have been there on home soil. The experience will stay with me for years to come.

Now it's time to hang the mtb bike up and pull down the cross bike! I'm not going to lie I have been looking forward to cross season for a while now. After a bit of time off the bike to recover from the crash at worlds and to get some fresh legs I raced the Durham cross classic. With a guest appearance from Mike Garigan and the Mr. Box I was excited for a fast race. I got the whole shot in to the first "run up" and rode it. Well until my tire rolled off. Guess I should have done some maintenance on the bike before racing it. Got the tire back on and chased hard for a few laps but kept weight on the front because I was scared of rolling it again. Decided to switch onto the old bike after a few laps. Got about 100ft out of the pit and snap goes the chain. I'll skip the details but Craig let me run back and grab my other bike again. At that point I was in last. So I just went into TT mode and saw how many guys I could pick off. Found out at the end that I came 3rd. I'll take that. Great race and awesome course this year. Too bad the turnout was poor.

Moving on to the next weekend in Wisconsin For the first USGP weekend of the year. Went with Rick Myloff. Really chill and fun trip. The race was crazy fast with some of the fastest guys from Europe there and a very fast Canondale team. The first day saw more bike problems this time the drivtrain. Ended up running the last bit of the race and don't really know where I finished.

Second day went much better. I had my best cyclocross start ever riding with Berry Wick for the first lap. Made a few mistakes after that and lost that group. Spent most of the race battling with fellow u23 Cody Kyser for the 3 spot in our race. But once again my bike decided to quite on me. Ok it's my fault for for not making sure it was working well before the trip. Anyways I struggled with my bike for the rest of the race and managed to salvage a 36th place finish.

Dispite the bad luck there is a lot of good to take away from the race. Great experience at these US races. The level is so high and gives you a good idea of what you need to do to be good in this sport.

Feeling motivated from the weekend I have been doing some good training this week. Feeling a bit tired from it though so tomorrows race should be interesting. Looking forward to it though. Got my bike all sorted out so I don't expect to see any bike issues this time. The only one I can blame for a bad race will be myself.

All for now :)

Just a quicky

Short update on what's going down here at St Anne. Staying at a nice chalet right at the mountain. Living with some good guys like Kris Sneddon and Francis Morain. I've been seeing a lot of the top pro guys walking around the area. Seems to be the hot spot around our chalet. Rode the course a bunch and love it. A bit on the dry side. Actually it's really dry. The whole course is covered in sand. But I'm riding well on it so no worries.

The team relay is today. It will be fun too watch the team ride a suicide lap while I sit on the side of the trail. Kinda glad I'm not doing it. Save that juice for the race on Friday. That's about it. Super cool to be here. It's unlike any race I've been to before. Can't wait to race!

Lets Catch Things Up

It seems that once again I have been late on posting a race report. But I have an excuse this time. After the race I talked to the guys organizing the worlds project and found out that it was going to cost 1000 bucks! Now I know that everyone going has to pay that much but I just found out and didn't have enough money to cover that. But it seems that I will still be going thanks to some help from various people. Good to have friends that are willing to support you.

So the race on the weekend went well. After a rough start the leaders were well out of sight. But I didn't panic and got into my groove. Picked people of for the first lap and by the end was with Tyson and Zach was just behind.

Second lap Just kept it steady and gradually rode away from those 2. I made it up to Peter and Morka and was pretty happy to be with them. But then they picked up the pace. So instead of killing myself and trying to stay with them I just kept that steady pace.

After that there's not much to report. Spent the rest of the race alone trying to hold of any late race attacks. Finished 6th overall and 1st U-23.

So that raps up the O-cup season. It was an awesome year of racing and Chico did a great job as usually. Those guys deserve every ones gratitude. So if you haven't already then next time you see them be sure to thank them for all the hard work they do. The Ontario scene wouldn't be the same without chico.

Prep for worlds is going well. Past few days have been blow yourself up workouts. It's good because I have a feeling that world is going to be all about how much you can suffer without blowing up so it's good to know were that red line is.

Getting pumped for the race! Not just mine but the seeing the Elite race as well. For those who don't already know CBC will be covering the race. So if you aren't able to be there you can see the action there.

All for know

Close call

Past few days have been pretty scary. Sunday I went to ride the new course at Woodnewton. Got in a few hrs and had the course figured out pretty good. During the ride I was having mixed sensations. One minute I would be feeling good and the next I would be red lined and wanting to go home. Held in till the end of the ride and went home. That's when things went bad. I was getting the chills and a wicked headache. Instead of trying to pretend that I wasn't sick and hoping that it would just go away which has proven unsuccessful in the past I went to bed and slept as much as possible. The next morning I was feeling a bit better. But I had to get up and go to work. That was rough and by the end of the day I was useless. Got home and repeated what I did the night before. Next day felt better again but didn't have to go to work. So I Spent the whole day doing nothing but napping eating relaxing. And guess what. It worked! Got up today and felt normal and well rested. Had a great ride and feel back to my normal self. I haven't felt normal since Kelso so I'm thinking I just needed to take a day and really rest up.

Now as for the course at Woodnewton. Well It's a classic style MTB course complete with a long start stretch threw a field, fast sandy single track and lots of steep punchy climbs. Verdict = like it. I think after riding it again this Saturday with good health will help me to love it. The second part of the course is definitely more exciting than the first with some awesome full speed burmed downhills and less blow yourself up climbing.

Look forward to the race and seeing everyone. Hope all goes well.

How much can you suffer?

Just thought I would right a quick post while I'm sitting at home doing nothing. While every one is racing in Bromont at this very moment I've opted to stay home and get in some good training. Today was one of those days were I had talk myself through the pain. Did some max hill reps and finished off with a 20min mtb TT. It's funny. Every time I have hill reps to do I wake up in the morning all pumped to do them and see how hard I can go. But then when I'm actually doing them I can't remember why I was so excited. But it's always satisfying when you finish a workout like that and your sitting at home relaxing knowing that you gave it your all and got that much stronger.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the new venue in Uxbridge to ride the course for a few hours. Pretty excited about it. It's always cool riding somewhere new and from the sound of things this place will be prime.

That's all for now. Just want to say Happy anniversary to my parents. If anyone sees them be sure to send your best wishes as it's the big 25th year. Now we're off to a nice dinner at the grandparents tonight.

Back to buisness

Wow it's been a while! Just logged on to my blogger account and saw that there were some new templates and decided to make a few changes. Might have gone a little over board with it and will most likely tone it down a bit. But for now the purple flames a sweet!

Well I guess it's a bit late to do a nationals race report. Long story short I won and it was an awesome feeling. I knew I could hang with those guys but taking the win was a bit of a shock. So what that means know is that I'm going to worlds at Mt. Saint Anne! That was kind of the "super goal" at the start of the season so I would say that anything else now is just added bonus.

Since nationals I've just been getting in some good training in the heat. I've also gotten very good at timing my rides just right to avoid any rain. Somehow I haven't got caught in any real downpour once this summer. Now that I said that I'll probably get poured on this weekend haha!

Oh ya I forgot to mention the last O-cup race... well it was probably the worst I've felt on a bike all year. I was suffering like crazy and not going anywhere. Haven't been able to pin down the reason why I felt so bad but I'm starting to feel normal again now. That's all I have to say about that. (Forest Gump quote)

Well that's all for now. I'll be sure to be more frequent with my post from now on because it was getting a little ridicules. Happy trails!

Found my marbles

Oh boy... it's been a while. But there is a reason for that. I made a deal with myself that I wasn't going to post anything on the blog that was negative or disappointing. So we're just going to skip over the Hardwood Canada cup all together.

On to today! O-cup #4 in Midland. Awesome course. The weather leading up the race was really confusing me. But I kept thinking about last year and how much it rained before the race. I put on mud tires for that and it was a poor decision then. So seeing as it was a similar or even better situation this year i decided to stick with what I had on which was an all rounder that I run for every race.

Lined up front row again. Had a good start. The start climb is a hard one and if you don't watch your effort you could be passed at the top. Had no problems with that and was sitting with the leaders into the single track. Not much changed in the first lap. I just rolled around the course on there wheels.

Lap 2. Not sure how it happened but the leaders got away and out of sight (which doesn't take long on that course). So I rode the rest of that lap on and off of Tysons wheel as he would gap me on the downhills despite my efforts to stay with him and I would catch back up on the climbs and fast flowy sections.

lap 3. Made a few mistakes and lost Tyson. He was out of sight. So I just did what I do and rode consistent and hard on the climbs. I found a good rhythm and started riding smoother.

lap 4. Kept that consistent pace and by the top of the course Tyson was back in sight. That was a sigh of relief. Once I caught on to him I was feeling good and didn't want to give up the rhythm I had found. So I moved past him. As I went by he told me that he was attacked by a child watching the race. His brake levers were crooked but he seemed to be ok other then that. Rest of the lap was more or less the same.

lap 5. Traffic! I'm not sure what it was today but the woman's field wasn't as friendly as usual. Even some of the riders that are usually good about giving room to pass were content to make me wait. This forced me to be more aggressive then I usually like to be. I wasn't able to open up on the climbs like I had in laps before because of heavy traffic so lost a fair bit of time on that lap. Not a big deal as it wouldn't have earned me a higher spot regardless. When i crossed the line I found out that I finished 4th. Happy with that for sure. It's nice to finish the first block of races with a satisfying result. Now like everyone else I think I'll be getting back into a training routine for a few weeks.

In the meantime I'll be trying to arrange a way to get myself to Nationals in Alberta. If not then next race will be Buckwallow. Well I'm tired and getting lazy so that will be all. Talk soon.

Ok lets do this

Oh boy, lots to catch up on here. Didn't do any blogging in Quebec due to sketchy Internet/being busy/laziness. So I will attempt to condense the whole trip into this one post. Here it goes.



Trip to Baie St. Paul went well. We each had a whole seat to ourselves which made for a less cranky group of people. Condense...



Got to the motel in good time. Out pit stops were nice and short so we were able to get a bit of a ride in once we got all settled in.



Sat was pre-riding. Showed up in my sweet new white leg and arm warmers. They make me feel more legit. The course was sweet. I liked it better then last year, it seemed to be more broken up rather then just climbing forever and then going downhill really fast. It had some good punchy climbs which I like and had some tricky single track.



The race, well it went something like this. Start hard, barely avoid a crash, work my way up the field, have a mechanical, lose a bunch of spots, keep having said mechanical, deal with it, make up as many spot as I could, and finish in 31st. So, not what I wanted, but not terrible either.



We packed the van and left right after the race for Mont St. Anne. Not a long drive so that was good. Arrived at our sweet chalet and got settled in. The next morning me and Mr. Garrigan went for an endurance ride up and around the mountain. Also got some great practice with changing flats. Mike showed me a few tricks and I was able to shave 6mins off the time it takes me to fix a flat. Anyways, some great training and technical practice in Mont St Anne. And a lot of fun with the team. Condense...



After the few days in St. Anne we made the trip to Tremblant. Arrived there to find out that the place we were staying at was even nicer the the one before. On the lake, nice property, 2 kitchens, completely finished basement. Easily worth over 1 mill. Not too far from the village either. The day after we got there (Saturday) we pre-rode the course. Very dry and it had been smoothed out since last year. Not too upset about that as I'm riding a hard tail this year but I can see how some may be upset about it. Pasta dinner in the Village (which was very pricey but delicious) and then back to the house to chill and hit the bed early.



Race day again! Wow that week went by fast. Woke up at 7:30ish. Had a good breakfast and gave the bike a final look over. There was a good atmosphere in the house. Everyone was super pumped to race their bikes. Good vibes.



Rode to the course at 11:30. and got a good warm-up on the roads around the village...



Skipping ahead a bit. Got called up in a better spot than last week. Off the start I played it conservative and just held my position. I didn't want to get half way up the hill and not have anything left. And it paid off. Half way into the lap I was able to pick it up and was able to pass everyone who got to excited off the start. By the time I got to the downhill I had caught up to Tyson Wagler. But he was moving fast on the decent. I was riding a bit above my head trying to keep him close. Getting close to the bottom I hit a fast washed out corner with to much speed and without even a chance to try and save it I hit the ground with my ribs taking the brunt of the impact. Oh Man! That's the first time I've winded myself during a race. It was one of the worst feelings I can remember having. It took me a good 2min to get my breath back and that's when I noticed that my ribs didn't feel right. It was painful to breath. I sat beside the trail for a while and tried to find out what was wrong. As i watched the Juniors going by I started to think it was a lost cause. But i quickly shook that thought out of my head. I made a goal at the beginning of the season to finish every race and I knew if gave that up I would hate myself later. So I Got my bike all straitened out and got back on. The next lap was hard. My breathing was restricted and it was quite painful. Anyways long story short I finished the race and was able to pick my way up to 40th. Again not what I had in mind but it feels good to say I sucked it up and got it done. After a trip to the med tent I went back to the house got cleaned up and went out with the other Ontario riders (who had great races themselves) for some great food in the village.

Stayed for the red bull race to see Mike G. defend his title. I could write an entire post about that. Lets just say that I've never seen such an unorganized event before. And it ended up costing Mike (who was clearly the strongest rider on the xc side) the win and a hefty prize pack. 3 grand and some awesome swag including a sid world cup. A little frustrated thinking about that situation so lets move on.

So that just about sums up my trip to French land. Lots of good times had and good learning experience. Looking forward to hardwood and having a good race there. I feel I have good legs and good motivation so I'll see if I can make something happen. Good night.

Albion race report

Woke up and it was still cold and snowing. But it was supposed to get nicer for the 1:30 race so no worries. I have to say that I do not miss racing at 8:oo at all. Well done to all who toughed it out and raced at that time.

Pre race just tried to not get cold and figure out what the course was like. Verdict, looks like the course it perfect. Not to dry not to wet. They even threw the green monster back in for our race. Oh joy...

During my warm up I was feeling ok. But when I put in any hard effort I could feel my legs starting to ball up. Oh well best not worry about it. Got lined up. Front row beside Morka. Cool! Looked around and realized how much more clothes I was wearing than everyone else. Junior moment. Whistle went and we were off. Had a good start. Maybe to good as I could have taken the whole shot. But I decided that would be a mistake. So I eased up and fell in behind Adam Morka. Start loop was fast and everyone stayed together. Felt good and relaxed. Stayed with the leaders until we hit the green monster and I think Cam Jette attacked. I tried to react but I started get those knots in my legs again. So that was the end of my time in that group. Luckily I wasn't the only one who got dropped of the back. I could see a Trek Canada guy and Zack Winn up ahead. So I got into a good pace and kept them in my sight. Didn't lose or make any ground on them for the next lap and a half as Zack kept attacking the climbs.

Finished up the second lap and saw the Trek guy drop out. Turned out to be Peter. He was blown after a really tough world cup. So that just left Zack. 3rd lap I started to really feel the pain in my legs and struggled to keep it going. I was caught by Tyson Wagler and lost him when my bars moved on me and I had to stop and fix them. Only about 20sec lost there. And it gave my legs a chance to relax. Got back on the bike and found some motivation. I could see Tyson in the distance and he was riding strong. He was now with Zack and it looked like he was throwing down some more "Zack Attacks". I surged on the monster and closed it up a bit. I maintained the gap for the rest on the lap.

Lap 4. Not much happened the first half lap. When I hit the monster again I surged again and caught the tiring Zack and Tyson. At this point I was just ignoring the pain in my legs and pretending I was feeling good. I moved ahead of Tyson and shortly after was passed by the lead juniors. Ouch my pride. But I was able to grab there wheel to get a gap on the other 2. Followed them to the end of the lap.

Lap 5. Survive! I didn't know how much I had on the guys behind me and I was hurting pretty bad. So I spent the lap looking for speed wherever I could find it. One last grind up the monster and I knew I would be pretty safe after that. Rode it in for a solid 5th.

I'm happy with the race. I worked hard and that's always a good feeling. And I also made the project for the Canada Cups. That's the first goal of the season met so I'm stoked on that.

1 week to get the body, bike and mind ready for the first important race of the year. Can't wait.

Ok so just sitting in my favorite chair (ya I know I'm an old man) watching the snow fall. Wait WHAT!? It's snowing the night before O-cup#2 and I'm hoping this doesn't keep up for tomorrow. Kind of feel like I should be getting the cross bike ready.

Ok I'm done complaining. This week has gone ok... I had one bad workout that set me back a bit. On the hottest day I lost my water with my heed in it and for reasons I don't even know I didn't stop to buy something to replace it. I just kept on hammering and gradually started feeling worse and worse. Very drained from that the next day. So I've been taking it easy since then. Feeling pretty normal again after some time on the trainer today (it's snowing). So we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Good luck to all and good night!

So I haven't put up any post so far this week due to a busy schedule. On top of every thing I had to do this week I have also had to start counting my calorie intake by request of my parents. They have been pretty worried for a while now about me not eating enough. And I never liked the idea of counting cals but they got me to do it for a few days now. The result is I have not been eating nearly enough cals to support the amount of exercise I do. That would explain why I'm lighter now then I was when I was 15. So I'm putting in an effort to gradually work on eating more as I were to just start trying to make up for all the cals I've missed at once I would gain weight like crazy I think.

Today I had a great ride. Started the day off with a good breakfast. Really hard to get my head around how much food I should be eating for a 4hr ride. Got out at 11:00am and about 30min in it started pouring with some lightning in there as well. Just threw on my arm warmers and kept going. got to ravenshoe trails and they were soaked. Awesome! I love wet mtb rides like that. It's great for working on skills. Ripped around in there for 2hrs then headed home into a good head wind. Took longer to get home then I wanted but that's ok. I was feeling really good. Usually at the 3.5hr mark I start to feel weaker and go out of my zone more. But I felt just as good as the start of the ride. Guess food is important! Who knew?

Anyway, that was the best day of training I've had so far this year. Looking forward to more like it. Ok not the rain part but you get the idea.

O-Cup #1

There's a lot I could say about the race but I'll try to condense the best I can. I started the day of with 2 hard boiled eggs and some steel cut oats with banana dates and honey. Good energy food. Got the car all paced and headed out. Arrived at Mansfield at around 10:30 and chilled out for a while. Went around and talked to some people and checked out some of the early races. The course was still bone dry and dusty. I guess that rain didn't show up. 11:00 got dressed and started lightly spinning around. My legs were feeling pretty fresh despite the 3hr ride on Saturday. I was a bit worried about that but I've learned to trust Peter's training methods. 12:30 I got on the trainer and did a good warm up. Skipping ahead to the start line. Got a pretty bad spot but didn't let it bother me because I knew there would be time to make up some ground. But I also knew that I had no chance of riding with the lead group because of my start position. But with the Trek squad and Raph there I'm not sure i would have been in that group anyway.

Of the the start line and I was feeling good. But I wasn't able to move up at all on the first climb because the trail was just packed. Maybe I need to be more aggressive? Once we got to the top it opened up and I was able to move up a bit but I was still way back. Rode in a long line of guys through the single track. Long story short my first lap was spent passing guys in the double track and following in the single track. By the end of lap 1 I could see some familiar kits up ahead. Norco, Jet power and EMD. Got by Zack and he picked it up and got on my wheel to pass Mike G and Ryan Atkins. We got a gap on them and I was still feeling good. About half way into the lap a stick came up and knocked my front derailleur into my chain rings. A little frustrated but keeping calm I got off and pulled the out multi tool. Not a super fast fix but I got it working. Got back into chase mode. I had to chase down Mike, Ryan and Zack again. They were out of sight but I was able to get time gaps from different people around the course.

Lap 3 I started getting glimpses of Mike and that helped to get me going a bit. Caught him and could see the other 2 up ahead. Got up to Zack half way through the lap and Ryan next. I rode with Ryan for the next few laps and had a good battle with him and me trading the lead through different sections. We did that until the last lap were I made had a stupid crash and he got away again. It was getting close to the finish so I knew it would be hard to close the gap again. Especially after burning all those matches earlier. I ended up 7th 4 seconds behind Ryan.

All things considered I'm happy with my race. I have a few things I need to work on but I think it was a solid way to open the season. There's 2 weeks till the next race so I think I can improve on what I've learned by then. And hopefully it will be enough to get me on the Canada Cup project.

That's all for now. I'll keep updating on training and all that leading up to Albion.

Hidden gem

So P2A went well for me. Bridged some good gaps a couple times and was wondering if I was going to pay for the burnt matches later in the race. But I surprised myself. After getting popped of the back when someone (I think it was Mike) punched it on one of the rail trails I went into TT mode and road by myself for about an hour. I kept thinking to myself your going to pop but I was feeling really good. I caught Chown and decided to keep going because I don't think he had any plans to pull me. Came to the mud slides and dropped him on the first one. Came to the second one and got onto Box's wheel. But just as we hit the pavement again I noticed my front wheel getting softer. Ok quick decision. Do I stop and fix the flat or just give er for the last 2km? Give er! Needless to day I lost Eric but I still had a gap on Nathan so I just tried to ride it in as fast as I could. Which wasn't that fast. Especially on the last hill. But somehow I held Nathan off and came in 5th. I'm quite happy with how it went. I feel confident in my fitness for sustained effort and now I can build on top end speed.

Moving on to the past few days I been doing some interval work on my MTB. I'm making an effort to not touch the cross bike for while. It's time to give it a rest and focus on MTB. So I've been riding trails more this week and today I found some new (well for me) trails that are better than anything else in my area. There's a ton of awesome downhills and some good single track to sharpen the skills. I won't say where I went though because it may or may not have been off limits to bikes.

Looking forward to this weekend. O-cup #1! Looks like some more fast guys will be there due to the volcano. It will be good to see how fast the elite guys are and see where I stack up in the Under 23 division. I'll be going up there on Saturday to pre-ride with Peter who is offering to go over the course with people who are interested. I would encourage anyone to take advantage of this as it can really help come race day. For more info you can check out Peter's blog that I have a link to in the side bar.

See you at Mansfield!

I like what I see

Has anyone else noticed how many more cyclists there seem to be this year than before? I'm thinking that the bad economy is having a positive effect in some ways because I have been seeing a lot more commuters and parents riding with there kids. I think this is great. I think that we could be seeing a lot of new faces taking part in some races this year.

Anyway, the last few days of riding have been great. Weather has be awesome and the trails a prime! Tuesday I went and did some off road TT's. So hard! I think it's good to get those in before the racing starts though. Just so your not surprised at how much your hurting at the first race. Have I mentioned how fast the new bike feels? The bike climbs like nothing I've ridden before and is surprisingly smooth on the downhills. What more could you ask for in a bike!

Yesterday Me and my dad went to a meet and greet for a new family doctor. Sounds boring right? Well I surprised to find out that he is one of the very few non-bike racers that actually knows what cyclo-cross is (I don't even remember how we got on that topic). I think I like this doctor.

Well, I have officially retired my Sidi mtb shoes after 5 seasons. I have to say I'm a believer in the durability of these shoes seeing as I have been doing MTB and cross on them every season. There are being replaced by the new super hot Bontragers. Got out for a good ride on them yesterday and noticed an increase in power transfer right away. Comfy too.

ps. I'm thinking I need to rename the blog... and change the pic. Kinda out of date.

1 Week Baby!

Not to worry every one I am still alive. Ive been pretty busy the past while and honestly not very motivated to write a post. But with one week till the season opener I figured it was time to get back at it.

So hear we are at the end of the off season. Now is the time that you've done all your training and you hope that it worked because what's done is done and it's time to see what you've got. And judging by some of the weekends results from various races I would say that the off season training went quite well for some. I was happy to see that Mr. Watson had a great race at the Pan Ams beating a lot of top guys! But then I thought oh crap I have to race him this year! Well done Andrew. Other note worthy performances were Tyson Waglers 3rd place at the tour of Brounte again beating some fast guys. Also Eric Box took the victory at the Hell of the North. Way to go guys. See you at the P2A.

I'm just about ready to get out for my ride today so I'll leave it there for now. More post to come soon.

Big boy workouts

The last few days have been tough but good. With pretty big days on the bike and pretty crap weather I can say that I feel good about my weekend. The highlight has to be having my water freeze on me on Fridays -15 ride. Brrr! If your down south right now enjoy it! the weather has been a roller coaster this month. 2 weeks ago I was riding in shorts and jersey and then having frozen water bottles!? BTW if anyone knows how to prevent that from happening let me know. And I'm not putting rum in my water.

After spending last night desperately searching for results from the US cup I finally found them this morning and am a little confused by some of the results. First off I though that Evan Guthrie was going to be much higher than he was and Mr. Hughes was higher than I expected. Also great ride for Tyson Wagler. Great to see a first year holding his own.

OK I'm just about done here. Gonna watch some Tony Jaa with the Fam. But first I finally have a pic of the new Gioda MTB! Enjoy

Can't wait!

Is it race season yet? It always seems the last month before the season starts feels like the longest one. I'm looking forward to watching the Fonatana race this weekend and seeing how the Canadians do. It looks like lots of the Ontario guys are gonna be there. We have Mr. Watson, Mr. Glassford, Mr Zanstra, Mr. Wagler, Mr, (Eric) Batty and Mr Morka. I think I've named them all. Good luck down there guys!

I'm gonna keep this one short because I just got this serge of motivation to go out and do my workout. It's a nice day out so you should get out and ride too!

So the goal I set at the beginning of the week to get outside for all my workouts has been met so far. But with one day remaining and some nasty weather for tomorrow I may have to give in. Then again I could go to Joyride and that would count right? Ya I think so.

The riding this week was awesome. Had some good long days and beautiful weather. Except for today which was rainy windy and a bit cold. I did a tempo workout in the Holland Marsh which looking back now was a poor decision. I could not have picked a windier place to ride. Rides like that make me feel like a man. Or at least until I come home all wet and shivering like a child.

If you have read my previous posts you might be able to guess what else I've been up to besides riding. I have officially got Final Fantasy fever. I won't say how many hrs I've logged in ob the game because it's a little bit sad. This game has been phenomenal so far. I could talk about for a long time but that would be nerdy so I will resist.

Hopefully I'll see someone I know at Joyride tomorrow.

It's not Tucson but I'm not complaining

This week has be great. By far the best week of training so far. The weather has be amazing and the legs have felt great. The riding highlight came yesterday when I actually over dressed! It was sooo nice. I didn't want to stop riding but I ran out of food so I headed home after 4hrs. I also had to go and work at the bike show later that day. The show went well. The first day I worked I sold 3 bikes and all from different genres of cycling. 1 road, 1 xc race bike and 1 dirt jumper. Surprised myself there. Other than working there I also checked out the other booths and competitions. BTW great job to my buddy Keenan for placing 3rd in the Pro mtb jam. Also watched the bmx finals. I won't try and explain how amazing those guys were because you would have to have been there to grasp how good they were. Last show highlight was getting a sick new pair of pedals (long overdue). Got myself the time atac Absalon edition. There white and 100% euro.

One more note worthy subject (well if your me) is that there are about 13 more hrs this the release of FF13! I'm counting down the hours.

Looks like this week will be another good one. Hoping to get outside for every ride. Might even ditch the old mtb and take out the road bike.

That's all for now. I'd like to wish a good trip home to Marcello who will be going back to Italy tomorrow.

Looking forward to a good week of riding! The weather looks promising for riding outside. And if it stays that way then it won't even matter that I'm not down south.

Training has gone really well the last few days. Went to Joyride again on Sunday and hit up the new advanced skinny lines. Some pretty cool stuff going on there. I don't think I'm ever going to get bored of riding there.

Other than that I've just been getting things organized for my new online courses looking at my early season race schedule. The first race this year will be the Paris to Ancaster in early April. Looking forward to that. I've never had the chance to do that event or anything like it before so we'll see how it goes.

A big thank you to Mr. Crosby for putting the icing on the Olympic cake. That game was awesome. If Hockey game were always that exciting I might be more into watching it. And What a great closing ceremony. We treated the world to a parade of giant beavers and flying moose... because that's what Canada is all about right? Well at least Michael Buble was still awesome.

So right now I'm just relaxing after a pretty hard day. Ran some hills sprints in the AM and did some tempo in the PM.

And in case anyone is wondering how the squid dinner turned out it was awesome. But my brother did not share the same enthusiasm as me. He was actually afraid of it and never ate any. Oh well.

And finally my wait is almost over. Just 7 more days until FF 13 comes out! I'm a big fat sucker for the Final Fantasy series and this game took WAY too long to come out. It was announced close to 4 years ago! You can guess what I'll be doing with any spare time I have.

Well that's about it for now. Wow, going over this now I think I am over using the word awesome.

The Olimpics, a love hate thing

Workout today included a variety of different activities. Started on the trainer then a quick transition to running. I guess I should check the weather before I go out next time because it's cold all of the sudden! What the flip. At least there's a solid layer of snow now. Got on the skies and hit the park down the street. I think people are getting used to seeing me do circles there now. Even had a few neighbor's say hi which is I nice change. We're a pretty anti social neighborhood. It would be better if people would stop moving all the time. I have no idea who any of my neighbors are anymore. Anyways, after a good ski I went for a pole run in the local reservoir. There was enough snow there that just walking kept the hr up pretty good. After my feet got cold and wet I went home and got back on the trainer for a bit. Which takes us to the point I made in the title. The past week I have been watching the Olympics while on the bike and it seems like every time I do I'll be watching something sweet like speed skating or skiing and then they'll switch to Curling. They might as well include bowling in the summer games if Curling is allowed in. I'm not saying that it's not fun to play. I like bowling (kind of) but it IS NOT A SPORT! There it is I said it.

In other news our hockey team is back. I'm not going to lie I wanted to see a much closer game but that game was pretty awesome. I've never been a hockey watching guy but when the Games are on I find that I can watch any sport. Except curling.

I have been informed that no one in my family will eat the squid I got. Close minded. Except for my mom who is allergic to sea food. Guess I'll be consuming a large amount of protein at some point this week.

That's all I for now. Oh wait one more thing. It seems I have been added to Mr. Watsons blogs of interest and have surpassed Sam Rykhoff's blog. Ha take that Sam! Still love you Sam.

Lonely days

Good morning. Just sitting here after having breakfast and decided to post something instead of watching Olympic morning again. I swear it's going to take me weeks to get the songs from the commercials out of my head. I keep catching myself singing them in public. I want to know what happened to the Bell beavers.

So the past few days have been pretty good. I've been trying to make do with the lame amount of snow we have here but my ski loop is now down to grass. Pole running has been the main cross training activity. Yesterday I got out for a long one at King City trail. Still lots of snow in there. It was fun running around in the forest but some days training alone can kinda suck. Especially with no music. (Keenan if you read this I need my mp3 back)

When I got home and had some dinner and showered my Sister and her boy friend came home all excited about seeing a meteorite. Then they started talking about this big red star that they saw after. That didn't sound normal so they dragged me out to the plaza to see it and at first glance I was like holy crap it's a big red star! But after about 5min of staring at it we walked closer and i noticed that there was a big pole... ya. So they dragged me out to see a light bulb on a pole. Thanks Eisha. Ok I'll admit it fooled me at first to. So that was the story of my night. Pretty exciting I know.

Well it's about time to get ready for today's workout. I have a good endurance day. Not sure a want to do any more pole running but it might be my only option at the moment.

New food of the week, Squid... this should be interesting.

Can't think of a good title...

The last few days have consisted of training eating and watching the Olympics. And since we don't have TV the while family has been huddled together on the couch in front of my computer to watch it. So this is one of the first chances I've had to use my computer for anything besides that.

I got some great riding in on the weekend. Saturday I hit the old MTB and got out for a good 3hr ride on the road and a variety of different trails. I'm surprised at how well that bike is still holding up through all the times I've neglected it. If you don't know which bike I'm referring to it's an old 1998 Stumpjumper. Sunday was a trip to Joyride 150. It was also my first ride on the new Gioda MTB and I've got to say it's sweet! The bike just wants to attack. Very snappy and surprisingly smooth. I haven't ridden a hard tail for a few years and so far I'm loving it. So besides the excitement of riding a new bike other notable events were hitting the foam pit for my first time. Didn't really try anything into it but next time I'm going for a tuck no hander. If a can get that dialed maybe I'll throw one down at the hardwood Canada Cup this year. Also met the Massiccote's and watched Kevin try a back flip into the pit on his xc bike with the saddle up. So close. Monday was chill. Got up and made a good breakfast for the fam, did some good stretching and foam rolling. Then me and my brother headed the temple of wasted time also known as Microplay Video Games. Spent a good 45min there trying to decide if we were going to buy something. We finally decided on a game and went home to watch the men's xc skiing. I think I've got some work to do on my skiing. Finished the day of with a family movie night. Probably ate to much chocolate but I can't help myself. Definitely my weakness.

Can't think of anything else to report on right now.

Still looking for some good music if someone has any good suggestions.

Not So Good Feeling

The last few days I've been doing some small volume workouts. Yesterday i did a little cross training on the skis. It was hard to keep the effort easy because there was only about 3cm of snow in the park. That's right I ski laps in the park. I've actually never been on a groomed ski trail before so if someone wants to hook me up with a ride to one let me know! Anyway, so when I was done I was more tired then I intended. I could really feel the weaker muscles in my legs that I don't use when I am riding. I woke up this morning know that I had a TT effort to do. got out of bed and the soreness from yesterday had intensified. uh oh... I did some foam rolling which still really hurts every time I do it. My legs still felt like junk after. Oh well I'll still give it my best shot. got on the trainer and started warming up. I could tell right away that my body did not want to do this but I ignored it. I managed to push through it and got some decent results but it defiantly hurt.

After another foam roller session I feel a little better so hopefully I'll be good for the rest of the week. I want to be fresh for Joyride on Sunday because it will be my first time on the new ride. Going to meet up with Jeff Moote and buy some breaks of him and then hit the park for a few hours. Can't wait! I love that place sooo much.

One more thing before I'm done here. I need new workout music. I am getting pretty sick of mine so if anyone has any suggestion on some songs/artists let me know. I'm not to picky as long as it's got good bass are a great beat.

Good Feeling

I just finished my first real ride since worlds and I've got to say it felt awsome. During my week of I kept active enough that my legs don't feel like jello. I feel well rested and really excided about geting back into training.

Today's ride was 1hr 15min of coordination. this included 30min warm up, then 5 sets of 1 leg spinning followed by 15 min of alternating 5 push-ups and 5 sit-ups which sounds easy but starts to get pretty tough towards the end. After that I got back on the bike and spun it out for 15 min. A good workout to get the muscles loosened up.

After that I took out a baked potato I made last night and ate it along with my new favorite snack (might be better than celery with peanut butter) banana with peanut butter. this may sound strange but try it. Just spread some peanut butter on one side of a banana and eat it. Flippin delicious!

Mission for the rest of the day. Clean dishes (booo), try and scope out some parts for the new mtb which I will post a picture of when it's built, and try and make a paleo dinner that the whole family will enjoy. Maybe I'll ask Peter for some advice on that one.

Celery and Penut Butter

Possibly the most delicious snack there is. That being said I don't have a whole lot to post today so I've decided to dedicate this post to food! After worlds was over I didn't exactly eat the ideal foods so now I'm trying to get back to a proper diet.

Yesterday I took a trip to the grocery store with my mom. This is one of my favorite things to do. I love finding new foods and dreaming up meals with them. Some of the new things I've got for this week are leeks, baby bok choi, Belgian Endive and spaghetti squash witch I've had before but never made myself. I'm going to try for 2 weeks the paleo diet which Peter Glassford told me about. Basically this diet consists of eating only food that we would have had access to thousands of years ago. So no processed or man made foods. Just fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds and grains. Now I will cheat a bit when training begins again on Tuesday because quick carbs are important for workouts. If I feel really good after the 2 weeks I might have to make it a permanent thing. I've done this with other diets before and so far my favorite one is the raw food diet. The only problem with that one is when you have a week with lots of hours on the bike it's really hard to get enough calories to fuel properly. The paleo seems to be more appropriate for an athlete.

If anyone has some interesting ideas on diet than I'd love to hear about them.

I also have some pics from the trip so here they are.

Home sick

And by home sick I don't mean wanting to come home. I mean coming home and getting really sick. After spending a night in the amazing city of Praha we went to the airport and I got on a plain to Toronto. I had all 3 seats to myself again so that was good. Anyways about 10hrs and 4 movies later I arrived at the Toronto airport being greeted by by the father who had been waiting there for a few hrs. Nice to be missed. After dragging my large amount of luggage to the car we drove home. But not before a stop at my favorite shopping store Longos. We hit up the salad bar for dinner and went home. When I arrived we unloaded the bike and built it up. Sigh of relief, no damage. Also took out my new Gioda Espresso MTB frame that Marcello hooked me up with. Let me just take a moment to explain how sweet this frame it. Full carbon, red, white and black, integrated seat post... Can't wait to build this thing. BTW if anyone has some parts that they want to sell let me know. Looking for breaks, front and rear derailleur. And if you have a sweet white or red saddle I'm interested.

So after the unpacking was done (sort of done) we watched the DVD of my race that Tristan Smit made for me. Thank you Tristan. After that I all of the sudden got super tired and a little dizzy. Went strait to bed. Had one of the craziest dreams ever. Woke up and I was freezing. I could hardly hold my self up, felt like my head was going to explode and I couldn't eat. Called mom at work. She came home with lots of Gatorade. I didn't believe that this stuff helped when your sick until now. Thank you mom. Spent the rest of the day passed out on the couch. by 6:00pm I was able to walk around without falling over and I got a little bit of dinner into me. Went to bed and crashed instantly. Woke up this morning at 6:00 and I feel great. I feel well rested and have my strength back. Had some breakfast and started writing this post.

Today's plan is to get all stuff organized and see about getting my new courses set up. I might also get on the trainer for a bit. I don't have any training this weak so I'm going to have to find new things to fill these next few days. Alright lets get this day going.

Live and learn

Ok I could write a 20 page essay on every thing that happend in the race but I'll try and condence it. Woke up at about 7 for breakfast with the juniors and then thay went to the course and I stayed at the hotel and chilled. Watched there race on the internet. Great job by all the Canadians! Even if the results don't show it they all rode great races overcoming there share of issuse.

Ok time to get ready for my race. got all my stuff together and headed to the course. When I got there Alex took me the the Canadian team hut. got ready and headed out for a lap. felt amazing! Really punchy and I was riding the course super clean. I was feeling confident that I could have a good race. Now on the trainer for a bit. had a few interesting visits. First was Marcello! He seemed pretty pumped about the race. Couldn't understand most of the Italian but luckily Alex speaks Italian so he was able to translate for us. Second visit was from Tim Johnson! He came and we talked about the course and he gave some good advice on some lines for the race as the were changing all the time.

All right, now off the trainer and to the start finish area. Feeling super pumped and ready to go. went to staging and got all the warm up gear off. Kinda chilly. Listened to the crowd as they yelled for the favorite riders as the got called up. Then all of the sudded my name is called! So I quickly worked my way through the crowd off riders and lined up. Wow I'm on the 3rd row beside Danny Sumerhill! Allright 1 min to go. jackets are flying every where. 30 sec too go. Silence... GO! perfect start. clipped in right away and I was on the gas. coming up to the first corner I locked bars with a German rider and almost had the worst crash of my life (check out the new blog pic). Little scary but I'm still calm. Off the pavement and into the dirt. hit the first snowy corner and out of nowhere a Belgian is sliding across the course on hif butt right in front of me. Don't remember the crash but when I got up my bie was a mess. Bars were really crooked, my chain was off and my wheel was rubing a bit. Ok just stay calm and ride it in to the pits. So 4 more crashes later I got to the pits and switched bikes. Alright it's chase time. Or not. I continued making mistakes and crashing. I just couldn't get back into a rythem. Back to the pits and on to my A bike.

lap 2
Down the start finish strait I tried to get my head together. I started to ride the first section cleanly. Ok now it's chase time. Then I crashed again... got back on the bike. and my seat was moving every where. Back to the pits. Just to save time I'll just say I had to pit 2 more times after that.

My the 4th lap I finally found my rythem. Started catching some guys and I was riding the course cleany again. I was punching it on the climbs and staying smooth aroung the corners. I was feeling great. At this point I knew I was going to get lapped but I wanted it to be as late in the race as possible. 2 laps to go and I could start to see the charging Polish Guy behind me. I thought mybe is I could ride a really clean lap I could make it. About 1 min later he rocked by me a the climb. It felt a lot like getting past but a truck on a rode ride. I looked behind me and saw that he had gaped the other 2 riders behind him. So the new goal was to try and stay clear from those 2. Started really ginving it on the climbs. I couldn't belive how good my legs still felt. Looked back a bit later and saw that the other 2 were still closing but not as rapidly. I was getting close to the finish now. Just one more down hill then through the pits. I had about 10 bike lengths on second ove the fly over. Coming down the hill I took a bad line and got cought in a rutt and went down. Got off to the side and let the other 2 go bye. So that was it. I finished the race 1 lap down.

Going over the race after I came to the conclusion that I'm happy with how I did. It would have been so easy for my to just shut down out of frusteration at the begining. But I kept on getting back on the bike and going. It was a great learning experiance and I'll definatly be trying to come back next year to improve on my reasult.

Alright now it's time to go and watch the big boys. Definitly cheering for Stybar. See ya

"I gatta feeling"

So tomorrow is the big day and I've gotta say that I'm pretty excited. I'm loveing the course and the legs feel great. And probably the most important thing is that I'm mentaly ready to hurt myself. That is something that has been a problem in the past. I don't always have that willingness to suffer before a race and I settle in to a more conservative pace.

Todays "rideing partners" included the likes of Erwin Vervekin, Bart Wellens and the king himself Sven Nys. It was pretty insane to see how effortless he made some of the corners look. Defenitly learned how to take some lines from those guys.

The course has changed a tone in the last 24hrs. It's still sketchy but some corners have turned to mud. The race organizers put down a bunch of sand in the really icy spots. To be honest though I kinda wish it was still a little more icy. I felt that I had a bit of an edge on some of the warmer climate Euros and I was riding the course consistantly clean. Don't get me wrong it's still gnarly and guys will still be crashing a lot.

Ok so non bike related topics. Me and Kiernan "Danger" Orange went to the local pastrie shop and picked up the best looking pastries they had for after the race. I'm pretty excided about that. We have found ways to keep oursleves entertained here and now have a number of running jokes that would make no sense if I postes them here.

Ok it's now 9:40 some I'm going to bed. Good night. Next post will be a race right up.

4 juniors, 1 u23, no internet

So my reason for not updating for the last few days is the internet stopped working for a day. This was a problem because aside from rideing there isn't a whole lot to do in Tabor. But now it's back and I've some stuff to report.

So in the last few days I've got in a bunch of laps on the course. Super gnarly! I am comparing it to to the Tremblant race because it starts out with a bunch of uphill with stairs and a set of very slow and awkward barriers. Then the second half is all very fast and sketchy downhill with many turns. Lots of hidden ice spots and frozen rutts. Glad I did all that snow rideing back home.

I followed a few pro guys including a very frusterated J-pow. He was not having a good day. I can quote him saying " I've been on the ground more today then I've been all year". Home he can get it together. Also rode behind Stybar for a bit but his lines were too fast for me to hang on to so I let him go. As I rode the course more I got much faster on it. Some of the Euro guys were really struggling so that made me feel pretty good!

Ok so besides riding we don't have much to do but walk around old Tabor and surf the internet. I have a few good pics but can't find the wire to upload them right now. I'll get them up when I can.

One more thing I can metion is that the food here hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. It's been hard to resist the pastries but I haven't cracked yet. I'll wait till after the race, then I'm going for it.

Ok that's all for now.

Welcome to Europe!

It's just the pits at a cross race! But for planes.

Ok so this won't be a long post because I'm completly out of it from the jet lag. But the flight went really well. No hastles at the check in and I recived all my stuff back. It was a lonely flight because I possible travle buddy decided she wanted 3 seats to her self. That's ok though because I got 3 as well! I think I might have confused her when I tried to describe what cross is.

High lights so far have been, 1 when I was in Germany on the bus to my flight the guy next to me physicly got out of his seat so that he could fart easier... ya, 2 realizing that I am actually here in Europe to race my bike! It finally really hit me, and 3 on my spin today me and Chris checked out the course.... WOW! No pics of it yet but soon.

Ok so good night. Hopefully I'll feel normal by tomorrow.