The Challenge Podium Hat

I want a Challenge Podium Hat. I need to figure out how to get one. I also want one of those giant beers. I might have better luck getting the beer than the hat though. The Podium Hat is so PRO. I've bought enough Challenge tires & even one a race or two on them. Surely that's good enough to get one? Probably not.

Rent a Racer Program is program GO!

Thanks to those helping me out I get to race the next two weekends. Sorry Jason. I would have considered Bribes not to race. Vet Cross this Sunday. This is one of my favorite races. I was bummed last year that Roger had to cancel it. With all he does to help out cycling I like to go support his race. Even if he is biased toward the 360 guys. Plus its a cool course, Roger is a vet, & its a race about vets. My father-in-law is a vet so lots of reasons for me to put this on the must do list every year. Two years ago I won this race, but after a week off not sure how my legs will respond this weekend. Does look like we'll have good cross weather, cool & sunny.



Spend your Friday following this debate. I have a feeling its going to get interesting.

Daily nightmares

I have nightmares about opening a cabinet & seeing the above. Look closely there is even a cobweb. That PLC is almost as old as I am. My project for the next couple of days is bring this machine into at least the last 2 decades.



Now I have to do a lot of rewiring, a lot of cleaning & a little of the above. Shouldn't be too bad, it will be the 3rd one of these machines I've updated. Practice makes perfect.

36 days till Natz

Wow I can't believe in just a little over a month it will be that time of year that's better than XMAS for a mud loving pain freak like myself. That's right Nationals. With that said its time to start sharpening the pencil.



Last night at cx practice I switched up the normal loop by adding more switchbacks to simulate the Nationals course. From all the descriptions & the video it looks like there are about 50 switchbacks all requiring mucho grande power, so I'm screwed. Oh well I'll do what I can. I'll just have to get a better start this year & stay upright. Speaking of starts John & Dale took turns drilling the uphill pavement starts of our intervals to really push me. I lost a couple of hole shots but the extra push helps. I'm a notorious slow starter. I like to ease into it & just keep a high steady rhythm while others slow down I just keep the same tempo. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, 360 has had a different plan this season. Hot starts all of them. Thanks to 360 my starts are getting better. Now just have to dial them in over the next few weeks. I'm not going to be racing as much going into nationals so hopefully my legs will be rested & sharp.

Don't worry Jason I'll be at Veterans Cross on Sunday. No free pass for the series win this year.

2008 Koppenberg Cross Video

Go here:

Go Vote

I'm so glad its finally here. Now the RNC can quit calling my house 16x a day. I don't give a crap who you vote for as long as you vote. Thank god the robo calls are over!

In Missouri see your sample ballet here.

I didn't race but still got a W

No racing this wknd but still added to my win streak. I correctly guessed the name of Tilford's cat. I get something cool. Hopefully its a stack of entry comps.

Cross Rocks!!

I love cross!

DeStad Series Rankings

DeStad Series rankings are out. I'm leading the 35+ master's with two races to go. Last years series winner Jason Gaikowski(the maker of the ScottyD CX action figures as seen no where) is sitting in second. Proving that consistency is what you need to win a season long series. With two more races left he has a pretty good chance of taking the overall again if I don't show up to either race. But thanks to the Rent a Racer program I might just make one appearance perhaps even two.

The 45+ Master's is turning into a real horse race with The Arctic Hard Man Dan Hansen leading over the ever present Steve Songer by just 1 point. Showing once again you have to be consistent to take the overall. I'm looking forward to see how this one plays out. Songer has the horsepower, but Hansen has the consistency week in & week out.

Kyle has a way with words "Scott Dunsmuir of Springfield has taken the Masters field by storm, collecting 3 wins in the last 3 races." Almost embarrasses me a little, almost.

For Sale/Rent: 1 Used Master's CX Racer

One high mileage slightly damaged Master's CX Racer. There is still a lot of life left in this racer. Times are tough & I just want to race. Small payouts & race expenses are getting higher. Help a racer out & support the cause. What do you get in return you ask? Not much really. I'll race myself into the ground that much is guaranteed. Think of it as a money tree I don't have to strip bare. Or like supporting orphan kids, or NPR. You've got money & I want it. Click on the Donate button, pay for an entry fee or a tank of gas. Driving to KC solo every week is adding up. I figure it will take $1500 to finish out the rest of the season. Any leftover funds will be donated to kids bike charities. I'm not greedy, just needy. You can't buy gas with a can of Heed.

Feeling better

After leaving work early & wailing in agony I'm feeling better. Scroll down to read my version of the happenings.

Smithville Day 2

Wasn't feeling so great warming up on Sunday. Wind had picked up again. My left quad was still a bit sore for some reason. I didn't give myself much of a chance of repeating the W from Saturday. Dan Hansen got the hole shot(nice guy who drives 4000 miles from the Arctic just to race in KC & he has the coolest jersey in the peloton). I took over in the roller section with the plan of slowing it down a little. I figured I'd be marked so why not make an easy tempo. I rolled around for the rest of the first lap setting tempo. At the start of the second lap Hejduk rolled through & I figured it was game time. Pace started picking up. Third lap Songer came through & upped the tempo again. We hit the pavement @ the wheel pit & I punched it really hard. My shadow grabbed on with his shadow Andy Lucas. This worried me since we'd opened a gap on Hejduk & I knew I had to go hard to stay away from him. I figured Songer & Lucas would wait till I tired then bum rush me to the line. Luckily I had descent legs & was able to shake Lucas. Songer held tough. I thought I might be able to talk him into helping if I dropped him & let him come back but decided I'd just stay on the front. Coming into the finish a gentleman's agreement was being made. I was offering & so was Steve. Thing was neither of us could hear the other over the wind. So a pseudo sprint ensued. It didn't take me long to figure out Steve wasn't sprinting so I got W# 2. That was a first back to back's.

Me & my 360 Shadow from all weekend



Steep run up from hell. Thought I'd hurt my left quad here on Saturday.


Kick ass roller section. My favorite part of the course. Had a sweet switch back section before it.



I can sprint when sufficiently motivated. Granted Songer wasn't sprinting so it was a little one sided. Heat of the moment & all.







Who's that turd on the top step ride for? Team fine coming for not wearing appropriate podium atire.


Think I ate some bad Taco Hell in Clinton on the way home so will update both days after I go blow some chunks

Smithville Day 1

Money grows on trees in Smithville. Managed to snag $8(mostly by stopping & emptying the tree right before the finish, sorry Songer)


Interesting dynamic laid itself at my feet before the start of the race. Winkler was in Louville @ the USGP. Hejduk wasn't going to race. That left a big opening to take a healthy lead in the DeStad Series 35+. That was enough motivation to drill it from the word go. Actually got the hole shot. First one in awhile(granted I usually don't want the hole shot). I wanted to lead into the technical sections to try & string it out early. It was windy so I figured everyone would sit in & draft. To keep them honost I attacked a lot. Eventually I whittled it down to me & Steve Songer. He's in the 45+ group but it doesn't feel right having a 360 guy beat you so I kept attacking him. I'd go, he'd claw back. I'd get a big shit eating grin because damn this is racing & racing is fun!(hurts like hell though) I did this several times till I finally broke the rubber band. I managed to get a big enough gap to risk running to the money after the run up & give it my own version of defoliating. Picked it clean. Managed to roll across the line arms in the air with my bounty. Songer rolled across the line with the international sign of your number one (all in good fun).

Exploring the Pain Cave



Base Camp for the weekend.



Feel like crap this AM so will edit the report later

Smivthville, home of the WIND

Cash money is good.



Do those shorts make my butt look big?


Day 1

Day 2

Tired will race report tomorrow

CX Series Standings

I'm competing in two separate cx series this year. DeStad & Series 60. I'm sitting in 2nd in both right now. Always a bridesmaid. Looks like it will be a season long battle with David Hejduk in the 35+. He's 1st in Series 60 by 3 points & 3rd in DeStad by 3 points.

Series 60

DeStad

Thanks KB

Just my luck

I win a race & I don't get picture proof of it. 14 million people & no one got a pic of my seldom used victory salute? I've searched every KC blog I can find & I've come up empty handed. Oh well if you see one link it to me or send it to me. I'd appreciate it.


A good way to waste time @ work or on the trainer.

OOOPS!

Even the best screw up the barriers sometimes.

Series 60 Wknd

Saturday & Sunday were stops 2 & 3 of the Series 60 CX Series. Saturday was the Capitol Cup in Topeka. Sunday was the ever popular Boulevard Cup @ Wynadotte Park, former home of CX nationals.

Saturday I got up bright & early for the 4 hour drive up to Topeka. The temps are finally getting closer to normal Cross weather with a slight chill in the air. The course was very similar to last years except with the addition of another run up of the "Mound of Misery". They also made the smart move of cutting out about 2 miles of the course. Last year you got what seemed like 4 miles away from the pits. This year with shorter laps you never felt like you were going on a tour of Topeka. Warming up the grass still had a heavy dew on it & braking was a serious issue. I had intended to run the file treads but started second guessing it. I threw them on & took a lap & decided with the right tire pressure they would be fine. Turns out they worked better than the motor did.

It only took 1/2 a lap after the whistle went off for me to realize my legs weren't there. I guess I had dug myself a bigger hole last week than I had thought & the fatigue was heavy. Winkler & Hejduk basically rode/ran away from me. No real attacks just steady hard tempo & it was all I could do to float around in 3rd for the remainder of the race. Third was a bit of a disappointment since I had won here last year. All the fatigue in the legs made it an easy decision to scratch myself from the 1/2 race & go into hang out/fan mode. Just walking around after the race my legs were dead. I was tired enough I probably should have caught a nap in the sun. Very strange.

Sunday was the Boulevard Cup. This is one of my favorite races if for nothing else that the race prizes are beer. This year the winner of each class got a bottle of 6th Glass. I had thought that the course was going to be last years Nationals course which I wasn't very excited about. That course wasn't a very good one for me even though on paper it should have been. Anyway when I pulled into the parking lot I was pleasantly surprised to see it moved up on onto the hill. They even took the course around the Skate Park. There were a few kids riding the bowls while we were racing. I mounted the file treads again & took a practice lap. I took them to 28 psi & I knew that was the set up for the day. My legs felt a little better warming up than they had on Saturday. Though the course was heavy on grass & wind so I was a little worried about having another bad day. Luckily Winkler was feeling sick so decided not to start Master's. But David White had decided to race Master's instead of the 1/2's. This had me pretty worried since he rode off the front of the 3's races last year & won by a chunk of time. I figure I'd better mark him pretty closely.

At the start Doug Plumer lined up so I knew the long road start was going to be ridiculously fast. Some one must have told him there was a prime for the first to the end of the pavement. He freaking drilled it from the word go. I figured he'd fad but the fast pace always makes the selection happen fast. As usual me versus 5 360 guys. Plumer dropped of the pace fast & Lucas came to the front. I decided to attack early & often in an attempt to be more aggressive & break up the 360 death grip on me. It turns out that I hadn't pre rode the "whole" course. There was a switch back section marked with orange cones laying in orange leaves that I had missed. I attacked right before it & blew straight through it. I instanlty hear all 5 of the 360 guys yelling "SCOTT!" I'm thinking to myself what the hell is there game here. Then I glance back & the gap has gotten way to big, way to fast, & the light bulb turns on. Shit I've gone off the course. So I swing it around in a big loop, get back on course, & start my half lap chase to get back on.



I came damn close to throwing in the towel. Things sorted themselves out & I caught back on. Some big attacks went which I tried to cover. Jenks took a flier which threw me for a loop since I didn't know to cover it or try & pull it back gradually. I decided gradual & he came back after about a 1/2 lap of me sweating bullets thinking I'd let the race go up the course. With 4 to go Hejduk & I got away & I went to the front to set a hard tempo. He looked a little rough around the edges so I made a few efforts to get away. When we hit the road with 3 to go I sprinted like it was the finish & opened up a gap. I put my head down & started cracking the whip. I pretty much flogged myself for the next lap & a half till I saw the gap was comfortable enough to let off a little. That was that, go into don't screw up mode, & roll across the line for the first W of the season.

The win was a big moral booster. After feeling like crap & having to decide not to double up I was having some self doubts about how I had been training, racing, etc. I feel a little better about it now. Hopefully training will go better this week & I'll feel like doubling up @ Smithville this coming weekend, since December is still a long way away.

CX Pic

Just found this over @ Chris Locke's pic pages. Coolest pic of me CX racing I've found.

50 kph cx?!?

**EDIT: IT JUST DAWNED ON ME I RACED 4X IN 18HRS. NO WONDER I FEEL LIKE CRAP**

Two days, 4 "races". Actually 2 days, 2 races & 2 roll around in pure agony sessions. But who's counting. Saturday I headed to Topeka with John Jones & his youngest son with the pop up camper in tow. CX semi Euro style. I'm pretty sure in a pinch I could have gotten a wind trainer in that bad boy. We dropped it at Clinton Lake park to save driving back to KC. By the look of the campground we weren't the only ones with this idea.

The Grand Prix HPT was CX at night on a car dirt track. My dad would have been in heaven since you could hear the dragsters in the back ground. Master's race went pretty well. Got a good start & hit the down wind run punching the 45x11 for all it was worth trying to hold on at over 50kph(not an exaggeration!). It was a cool course hard to explain if you weren't there. I'll have to try & find some pics that will better describe it. Kyle was in Chicago this wknd so I didn't have any team mates to help me overcome the 360 onslaught. Songer & Hejduk took turns working me over. One would attack, I'd cover. Then another would attack & I'd cover, etc, etc. Was super fun racing but I knew their numbers would get me eventually & Hejduk was able to get a little gap on the final lap & that was all it took. Songer sat up since he had the 45+ won & I rolled in for 2nd. Probably the funnest CX race I've done racing wise.

The 1/2/3's was about what I expected super fast. I figured if I could hook the draft I could get in a few laps of moto pacing before being popped off. I hooked the draft but had a rider crash a couple of guys in front of me in the infield & that was that,gap was opened. Into training survival mode(that what I'm calling the double now). Pick of a guy here & there rolled in for 11th on the lead lap too. Pretty happy with that.

Chris Cross is round 2 of the DeStad series. I've always liked this course since its kind of mountain bikie. Chris Locke changed it up this year to make it more crossie(yes it's my blog & I can make up new words if I like). The changes suited me pretty well. Lots of technical stuff, with some power section, not a lot of high speed stuff. Master's race was once again me versus the 360 boys & Jeff Winkler(he'd broke his saddle in the master's race the night before or he would have been a big factor there). Hejduk was attacking, & attacking, & attacking. Really putting the screws to me. With 3 to go Jeff saw Hejduk head drop just a little & attacked pretty hard. The 360 guys looked at me & I looked back knowing I didn't have enough to bridge. First was up the road now it was time to fight for second. I made a few vain attempts to get away. Then Songer dropped his chain & I was able to get around & Hejduk got stuck. This opened up a pretty big gap. But I would have felt bad taking 2nd because David got caught behind someone's mechanical, especially since Songer was racing in a different class. So I sat up & waited for David to catch back on. He drilled me in the sprint but he did the vast majority of the work & deserved 2nd more than I did anyway, 3rd for me.

I thought long & hard in the 15 minutes I had between races about either not starting the 1/2's or dropping out 30 minutes in. Then I remembered you had to finish to score series points. So I put my big girl panties on & toed the line for the 4th race in two days. It basically sucked, lots of pain. I managed to stay with David White for awhile till my rear tire decided to mysteriously let exactly half its air out & I had to pit for a wheel change. It did this Saturday night as well in the 1/2 race. I thought it was my imagination but checked it later & it had 15psi in it & never lost anymore. I guess the valve stem needs to be resealed. Kind of aggravating but I finished the race 16th which amazingly wasn't last. I was very tired & not too much worse for wear. Except for a few of the mandatory mystery CX bruises. I had a lot of people cheering for me which made the pain a little easier. I guess people enjoy a masochist flogging himself.

Ira from Bolivar who comes out on Wednesday for CX practice showed up Sunday for his first ever CX race. He laid open his knee pretty good but finished his race then turned around after bandaging it up & raced again for the double. John asked him what he thought of cross & he said,laid open knee & all, he was hooked. Like I've always said CX is legal crack.

This weekend made me question my little doubling up experiment. It's not too bad if you race just one day but hard as hell to do it two days in a row. Now I just have to decide if the the means justify the ends. I don't have a problem not getting any results in the 1/2's, but the Master's races are getting harder & harder. We're cranking out lap times pretty close to what the leaders are doing in the 1/2's, except for just 40 minutes(which is what I'll race at Nationals). Its going to be a debate I'm going to have with myself for awhile I guess. I got some good training advice from Jeff on how to train for the double(he's doing it as well). So will have to tweak my weekly preparations just a little & see what that does.



Today its a rest day with Mia helping me wash the bike & Amber breaking out the massage table to try & fix my back.

More people should listen to me

I said Schumacher was going to test positive. Was too fishy that he won the Tour TT's so convincingly then looked like crap @ the Olympics.

ZOOOOO

Last Saturday when I was at work, Mia's Nanny took her to the zoo. I meant to post them the other day but got sidetracked









So tired at the end of the day passed out eating ice cream.

Pinball Wizard

Last night I got the Vidyah from my little boating excursion to the Upper Richland last month. Watch me be a pinball.



Not the line I wanted but it worked...some what. Hard to believe that's Arkansas & its less than 3 hours away. A whole other world.

Slimen Team work

Kyle & me working together in the Master's Race.









Could also be titled a study in barrier techniques. Kyle carries his bike between the barriers. I push mine between barriers. I used to carry them till I saw Tilford a few years ago using his bike like a walker between barriers. I figured if it worked for him it surely would work for me. Plus it saves my already aching back. Though I can see the beni's in carrying it too.

Big Girl Panties

In the last week or so Mia has decided she wants to start peeing on the potty. We've stocked up on the big girl panties & she's been doing pretty good. Sunday Amber & Mia decided to come up to KC to watch me race so we were going to have a test of the potty training effectiveness. She did great no accidents though you can tack on about a half hour to the drive time for all the potty stops(including one on the side of the road). I'm glad they came because Mia had a blast cheering & playing all day. Plus its nice to have the company on the drive to KC for a change. Anyway on to the races.



I had thought about tripling up for this race. But Saturday night after work I went for a spin on the SSCX. It took about 5 min for the chain to come off twice & for me to decide not to race singlespeed on Sunday(turns out the smartest thing I did all wknd). Master's followed by a quick break, then 1/2/3's.









Master's was fun. My Slimen Teammate KB decided to double up too so I had a game plan in the back of my mind. I got a crap start & had to fight through some traffic. Got near the front & sat there waiting for Kyle to overcome his start. During that time Jeff Winkler rolled off the front. I thought he was in a different age category but the numbering system I guess was too complicated for me. Anyway I decided not to go with him & wait for Kyle. Kyle caught on & it took about a lap for us to work over the Cowtown guy. Then we took turns pulling & basically rolled around enjoying a Sunday ride rolling across the line together to take 2 & 3 in the Master's.

We were then supposed to get 30 minutes before the 1/2/3's which ended up being more like 20 since the ref's had a point to make. I guess they had there pissy pants on so they picked out the highest profile guy they could find, Shadd Smith, & relegated him on the line to the back off the start grid. Nice, piss him off so he goes even faster. He took it in stride & still waxed everyone. It took him 30 sec to get the lead instead of taking it from the gun. Me? I decided to put on my big girl panties & ride around having a near heat stroke for over an hour @ LT. KB duked it out for about 50 min before I saw a puff of smoke & him coming back to me guarding the rear. There were two or 3 guys behind me who were trying to sneak up on the race. Like an idiot I forgot my gloves & managed to wear a nice fat chunk of skin off my right hand. I then had to spend the last two laps trying to see how many different ways you could hold the bars(not enough as it turned out). Anyway I knew it was going to be hard & I need the work because depending on how you look @ it I'm either behind for the season or ahead. I think behind, but I will have raced 7x this season before I raced once last season.



The 1/2's wasn't pretty with lots of people having meltdowns, mechanicals, or crashes, or early season woes.

No races this weekend so honey do's & training for me.

More Cross Vegas

You have to be dead inside not to love Cross!


CrossVegas Cyclo-Cross 2008 from sam smith on Vimeo.

Cross Vegas!!!

I'm stuck @ work on a Saturday, so to be uber productive I'm watching cross vids. Watch closely there are a few KC boys in there. Almost makes me want to get a UCI license & a plane ticket to Vegas for next year....almost. Videos stolen from Gregory Keller @ Mud & Cowbells.



Cross Vegas Run up lap 1 from Gregory Keller on Vimeo.



Cross Vegas 2008 from Gregory Keller on Vimeo.

WED Night CX

Starting to get back into the cross swing. Race on the weekend, wash the bike on Monday, ride CX on Wednesday, race on weekend, repeat. Mia is getting pretty good at washing the bike. She hates the hose("daddy don't spray me") but loves the bubbles & brushes. She even gets some of the bubbles on the bike once in awhile.

Last night was the first go around for the CX practices @ Sac. 3 guys so 1 more than I figured. JJ, me, & another guy from Bolivar who's name I forgot(sorry) once I noticed the Lars Bom autograph on his top tube. He said he apologized to Lars for it being a Bianchi & not a Colnago but could he sign it anyway, which he did. I'd clear coat it & hang that bad boy on the wall. With only 3 of us we decided barrier intervals would be the course of action. 4 x 10 min on a little short course I laid out on the top of the hill. Deep grass made it a leg buster.

Sunday I'm off to Lenexa, KS for the Diamond BlackFan CX Challenge. I'm going to attemept to triple. SSCX, Master's, & 1/2's. It's still early in the year so I'm more interested in racing saddle time than results anyway. This season has started a month earlier than last year for me so I'm still building up, December is a long way away & I have a lot of work to do.

This is interesting, I stole it from another blog:

Challenge Tire Chart

Cyclocross Tires Conditions

Grifo 30- Light rider / Early season conditions (I'm running these)

Grifo 32- All Around Conditions (& These)

Grifo 32 - Seta Unmatched casting material, super supple for greater contact to the ground

Grifo 34 -Muddy Conditions

Grifo XS 32- Fast, hard pack and grassy courses, superb early season tire

Grifo XS 34- Ideal deep sand tire

Grifo XS White/Black 32- Icy conditions – hard ice (also the “styling” early season tread) ((& These))

Fango 32- Muddy conditions (developed with direct input from leading riders of the sport) (& hopefully these)

Fango 34- Deep mud conditions

Donn Kellogg from Challenge tires.

Some people are Hammers other Nails

Guess I'm a nail since I took a beating. One that was expected though. Hey I did get a nice ass pat from Butthead though.

34 hours till CX

5 Days till CX

First "unofficial" CX race was at 12:01 this morning. That is registration for CX Nationals. Once again I got up in the middle of the night to try & get a good grid spot. As soon as it opened 5 people were registered. It took me less than 45 seconds to register & I was 13th. I have a pretty fast Intraweb connection but damn thats ridicuoulus! Oh well 2nd row is good enough.

Sore as hell this AM. Didn't get home from boating yesterday till almost 10pm, thats after leaving @ 7am. Not complaining though because I got to run Upper Richland for the first in over two years. Premo level at 5.0 dropping to 4.30. Took my creek boat since I thought we were going to hit the steep stuff but some last minute additions to the crew saw us doing Richland. After some quick bartering at the put in I left the creeker on the car & snuggled into a nice play boat for the day.

There were photos & video shot so as soon as I have them I'll get them posted. There is video of me being only one of two of our motley crew to run one of the hardest rapids on the river. Not super clean but I'll take it in a play boat. Its a 3 section rapid. Cleaned the s-move in to ride the pillow into the slot. Got pushed right of a hole I should have punched, but lost a little too much speed. Then should have slid left through a trough of water to miss a root wad but speed loss made me nudge it, leaving me bracing on my left side hard(no shoulder pain after a super hard brace so that was good). Then rode the green water out letting out a big "whoop"!

Hiked up to the Twin Falls to look at them. Lots of water pumping off them. Classic Tim Ernst Photo Op. Wish it wasn't such a hassle to get a boat up to them or I'd have run my second 20 foot water fall.

Tubulars are almost all glued up(1 set glued, 1 set stretching, 1 set in transit). Bike is built but needs a little fine tuning still. Barrier work starts this week in preparation for Hermann. Then its full bore into CX mode.

10 days till CX

ToM Day 2

Autograph mission a success++. Rabobank signed my musette. Plus Lars Boom reigning World CX Champ signed it as well. He's working the car for Rabobank for a vacation. No kidding. That makes two world champ signatures on the same mussete. Pretty cool souvenier of the ToM.

Tomorrow is the TT. Here's a start list spreadsheet with GC on it. My watch list are highlighted you can download & put into excel & do with it what you want.

11 days till CX

ToM day 1

Drove to KC. Froze my butt off. Talked a lot of cross with KB. Saw a lot of Pros. Talked a little Cross with JPow(the weather had him thinking about cross too). Got a good run in @ the feed zone. Picked up a Rabobank & a Rock Racing Musette for my efforts. Warmed up from my run, then froze my butt off once I cooled off. Went down town, watched a wet finish with a finish no one expected. Who would have thought Cavendish would win in a field sprint? Man I guessed wrong there.

Off to Clinton to try & get Boy Van Poppel to sign my Rabobank Musette. I'm wearing a sweat shirt today.

12 days till cx

I knew Hogan was up to something fishy over there. Google says:

What is the current listing status for cutgrassfarm.com/?

Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 9 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 2 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 1 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 08/31/2008, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 08/31/2008.

Malicious software includes 16 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new processes on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain(s), including 61.155.8.0.

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, cutgrassfarm.com/ did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

17 Days till CX

Holy Crap its getting close & all I can think about is getting wet.

All day today @  work it was all I could think about was going boating.  Luckily I was insanely busy rewiring 3 control cabinets.  10 hours flew by.  Otherwise I would have gone nuts checking guages.  Don't get me wrong Cross first & fore most but a guy has to cross trane right?  

I even hit the trainer so hard last night Amber got to witness my body telling me to harden the F up. 

 

Yep dry heaves followed by a near pass out.  I've got it in my head to do all my intervals (except secrect cx ones) on the trainer for consistancy via the wattage.  It'll either work or it won't.

Google caused quite a stir with Chrome.  I have it @ home & work.  Haven't got to play too much with it yet.  Did manage to get it to hang up tonight though.   I think it may be more flash than anything.  Will take a lot to get me to convert from Firefox.  But I will give it a chance.  I'm definetly one to try new things  ie intervals on the trainer, wattage, all crazy talk just a few years ago.

18 days till CX

First is anyone besides me bothered by the fact that Hamilton is now the US Road Pro Champ? Irks me. Yes he's done his time, but he's not man enough to admit his wrong doing. Pony up, admit it, & I'll have a little more respect(not much, but a little). I'm taking 3 days off next week to follow the ToM. If he's a last minute addition I think I'll make a giant hypodermic needle with his name on the side. Then stand on the side of the road all down the course. Then on Wednesday chase him up the hill with it during the TT.

Pate is the peoples choice for US Pro Champ anyway. The guy is the perennial bridesmaid at US Pro. I really want him to get the stars & bars soon. I loved his off handed remark about doping control @ US Pro's.

I read the live feed on Sunday as the race was going. Huff tore it up! On the front all day. Just wish he would have placed instead of that DNF. But hell he earned that DNF. Now he has to rest up to get ready to take on Cavendish. Speaking of Cav did anyone watch the Tour of Ireland coverage? He made the fields look like a bunch of cat 5's when he took off. Also on the ToI. If Magnus Backstedt has a JoB next year I'll be shocked. Dude has done nothing but DNF this year. His job at the ToI was to lead out Julian Dean. He never made it past the 1 K to go without totally blowing up. David Millar did more of a lead out.

My ToM plan is to watch Euro style. Watch it go by, hop on back roads till I get ahead of it, then stop & watch it go by, & repeat till the finish. I need to figure out how to listen in to the race radio. I found the spreadsheets with ETA's, etc that the UCI uses.

Friday I got in a pretty good MTB ride, first one in quite awhile. Little dry & dusty @ Sac though don't think that will last with all the rain predicted. Enough rain to make me think I might get to do some cross training in the water this week. I hope it rains a ton since I'm tired of feeling like I'm dieing everyday with my allergies. I got in a tempo ride on the Frisco trail yesterday & between the dust & the pollen I felt like death warmed over the rest of the day. Sat on the couch & read the rest of the day doped to the gills on allergy meds.