Riverside Cross Day 2

Pretty good day, raced 2x in warm & sunny KC. Got 2nd in Master's & 5th in 3's. Really only raced 3's for training so was pretty happy with it. Got a lot of help in both races from other peoples mistakes where I rode relatively clean. In the 3's race I decided to stay within myself & go my own tempo. My own tempo kept me within site of the leaders the whole way. I intentionally got a bad start which I won't do again. There are some seriously bad bike handlers in the middle of a 3's CX race. Lots of photos courtesy of seekcrun.com.

Why go to KC to race? To have people to race that's why. Field of 25 in the Master's race, with some fast old guys to boot.

Look familiar?
Always the bride's maid.

Riverside Cross day 1

Only one race today since no Master's. Really one race was all I needed today. Been getting so beat up racing last few weeks training has been vary sporadic & not of the quality type. Hopefully tomorrow I can keep myself together & get 2 races in.

Good course though barrier less. It was all run ups. One long beach run with a steep climb out. One very steep run up in the woods. Plus a long sand pit. Remember how much I love sand? But I ran it pretty well this week. About the only thing I've been doing well this CX season is getting good starts. Was 4th into the technical section but got a little too far into the red(max hr 190 avg 171), oops. Flailed around on the first lap in O2 Debt riding like a tard. Finally settled down & hooked up with a fellow Jr. Master's rider for the remainder of the race. Was able to swap leads with him & almost had the tail of the tail of the tail of the pack pulled back when we both crashed about 100yds apart. OOPS! The sand pit was about 50 yards from the finish. I was able to run it faster to out sprint him to take 7th out of 44 starters. That's a bunch for a 3/4 CX race.

John Jones was on hand spectating (not racing) for his Texas buddies who where visiting. One of them managed a close 2nd in the 3/4 race. John's taken up AR racing so no CX for him this year. He'll figure out what a waste AR is soon enough & come back to the bike.

Big field!

Going into technical descent before beach run.

Actual racing.

Lapped traffic, look close that's a Florida Gators skinsuit.

Waiting to pounce.

MacAnutt Cross SPR Rnd 2

Round 2 of the SPR series went about as expected. Cale won by a 1/2 lap+, I got 2nd, Dawson crumbled like a day old toothpick. Apply a little pressure & pop goes the balloon. Cale laid out a good course. Fun & fast. I only had to brake in one turn, I clipped my pedals about a 100x taking the turns with speed, though less speed than Cale obviously. I think the 2 of us managed to lap the entire small field several times. I was a little disappointed with the #'s, especially after skipping the Blvd Cup thinking there would be a good size field this weekend. Just goes to show how fickle the SPR cross scene can be. A big chunk of my family did turn out to cheer & enjoy the 70 degree day. Top rang the hell out of the bell & gave a couple of good bottle hand ups.

This is about all I saw of Cale for 55 min except from farther away.

Going into the 1/2 way point where you actually need to brake.

Chasing in the State Jersey & not doing it justice

No wonder I run the barriers like a girl try hauling 15% of your body weight over barriers.

Non stop accelerating.

Right after the challenging off camber barrier.

Farasy went from 1/2 ass last weekend to no ass pimping this week.

Is it just me or is Hogan looking a little fluffy in the mid section? Good thing he got the lighter Cannondale SRM.

Hey Cale

In case you've forgotten what a deer looks like here's a pic of the 8 point buck my 9 y/o niece Ashton shot Sat @ over 100 yds+. Out hunted by a 9 y/o, what's the world coming too.

Cyclocross Personals????

Found this on the net:Wanted: To get my ass handed to me @ Cyclocross race. Beat me down & show me who's boss. Lap me if you will. I like to run through barriers like a girl, crashes in off camber turns, running slowly, getting the snot kicked out of me. All interested come to MacAnutt Psycho Cross Sunday @ Living Memorial Park 11 AM.

Really I made that up. Since the Merm gave me a race last weekend I felt the need to taunt him into racing Sunday instead of praying for my wicked ways. I figure Cale will destroy me, Farasy will half ass it again, so the Merm it is. Bring it on bitch.

Cyclocross ditch bunny hop

Sven Nys bunny hops a ditch during the GVA Azencross, 2005. Flying accross it while other guy runs it @ speed.

The Hidden Clause

Since ANON wouldn't tell us what the hidden clause was:
"Stem cell research is already allowed by law but the Dems. are trying to fool everyone into passing the amendmnent(sp) b/c it contains a hidden clause that allows cloning and embryonic stem cell research." (Cale that's a direct quote no editing for spelling.)
I decided to see if I could find it. I read the whole Ballet Proposal several times. No hidden clause. Don't believe me look yourself:

2006 Ballot Measure Constitutional Amendment 2

It does say in plain English:
"(1) No person may clone or attempt to clone a human being.
(2) No human blastocyst may be produced by fertilization solely for the purpose of stem cell research. "

I don't see any tricky double negatives or other measures to pull the wool over my eyes.

Unlike some who take there views from Fox News I like to make up my own mind. More people should exercise their brains instead of regurgitating something they heard. Vote the way you want not the way someone else tells you to vote.

Back to yesterday's post. Here's a funny article about Rush: IDIOT

Michael J. Fox

You decide for yourself

FYI

With an 80% chance of rain most of today it looks like I won't be practicing my circle running unless it clears off. The last thing I need to do is run in the rain. Cold is on the way out. Besides my last two bike practices have been horrible! No clue why, though it could have something to do with it being the end of October.

Deep down I'm kind of hoping it will rain so I can skip the track & work on important things like watch the World Series, sit on the couch, maybe glue my tubbies on. I know I was supposed to do that 3 weeks ago but they had Tufo tape on them & who knew it would take an act of Congress to get that crap off? Turns out I should have used paint stripper.

Did anyone see that idiot Rush Big Mouth on the news making fun of Mikey J Fox's Parkinsons? Rush was doing his impersonation of Parkinsons & saying Mike was acting/exaggerating his Parkinsons for effect. Rush is a complete idiot. But what can you expect from a drug addict?

Hogan Cross

This weeks Cross Festivities were in Hogan's neighborhood(a neighborhood of $600k according to his neighbor's for sale sign $$$$). Bud once again graciously allowed a bunch of idiots to ride bikes around his house & give out money for doing it. Granted for some reason Skip got some of this money & I got none! Where is the justice in that? He gets 3rd in B's I get 7th in A's & I lapped him yet no money for me. I did ok I guess, but I've come to the conclusion I suck @ CX gaming. There is no excuse I just suck, ok here are a few excuses:

1) My cold was worse than I thought; excuse also used by Jimbo who I lapped.
2) My Tufo's valve stem broke 5 minutes before the start & I had to use Bud's rear wheel. I can not thank him enough for keeping me off my SS CX. Granted said wheel only allowed me to use four of the 9 gears. This was 2 too many though since I had no speed. Though according to him I should have lapped the field 3x on his wheel. Like I said I suck @ the CX game.
3) I ran the barriers like a girl. No offense to Pam Hinton who was the only woman, so she did truly run the barriers like a girl & managed to beat most of the B field (who I lapped, that'd be you Skip).
4) The grass was bumpy.
5) It rained/drizzled.
6) It was cold.
7) Amber only rang the bell twice.
8) I was getting snot every where.

A pretty big field assembled in the A's race, with a similar sized B field to follow & allow us to lap/get in our way(that would be you Skip).
I only had 3 goals:
A) To not get lapped by Cale who I didn't but He only got 4th so I got lapped by 1-3. Butthead is a lot faster than he lets on. I know I tried to ride 2 laps with them when they lapped me. I suck, he doesn't.
B)To not get beat by the Merm. Little bastard actually made a race of it & I had to struggle to beat him.
C) To Lap Farasy. This became a during the race goal when I saw I was getting close.

This was me warming up when I realized I was probably going to hit these hay bales. I did. Third lap straight over the handle bars. I suck, hay bales are soft, asphalt isn't, shoulder OK.

The Merm racing JR Froese while chasing me. One's 17 the other just acts like it.

The battle. Me running the barriers like a girl. See Bud's wheel; kind of looks fast or @ least it will hold by big ass.

Looking kind of fast. Really its trick photography thanks to my Mom.

More trick photography. She even made it look like Bud's wheel was kicking up dirt, moto style.

Butthead who won the battle of McSlow v. Butthead. He's so fast he's blurry.

BOCOMO V SPR: BOCOMO 1,2,3,5,6 SPR:4,7

BOCOMO better @ the CX game.

Shane sorry for the lack of updates. Miscommunication between me & Amber. I thought she said she had updated you, not that I was supposed to. See I suck @ the whole CX game.

Sometimes you feel like a nut

Sometimes you feel like poo. Last night was circle running practice part something or other. The weather was dreary & soft boy made a no show. My head felt like it was weighed down with 50 lbs of snot & I showed, yet I'm the soft one? Go figure, kids today. Hogan & boys did show, along with Cox & friend, & the owner of the shoulder I saw popped back in Mike Owens. He's Hogan's cuz & currently training for the Boston Marathon. Cale was there showing some form in his prep to whip the Butthead.

I had wanted to do 8 X 800 in 1:30 but once I started dipping into my oh so precious reserves I called it a day @ 6. I know its not like me to cut a workout short, I must be getting soft like Skip says. Since I know how much he likes numbers here some just for him.
This is how I felt when I got home from work this AM. I went out just like the little one.

Rain, the lake, sick

Monday it rained like crazy in Arkansas. It traumatized me pretty bad. The draught has been helping out by not rubbing it in my face I can't boat for awhile. Monday all my favorite Arkansas rivers were running huge & where was I? Asleep dreaming about boating. Oh well what's a guy going to do? I've seen a riverside popping back in of a dislocated shoulder & I'd rather not have it performed on me.

I was hoping that the rain would let up enough for me to get in a ride outside. That didn't happen either so I was on the windtrainer. I guess I'm getting soft because Amber went out & ran in the rain saying it would make her tough. We then had the discussion about the difference between being tough & hard. It really didn't make much sense but I'm hard not tough, though now I'm soft because I rode the trainer instead of going out in a light drizzle.

The strangest thing happened while riding the trainer. I went hard enough that I thought I was going to puke. It turns out I didn't go that hard I was just starting to catch a cold. Monday night @ work I got to feeling more & more crap like as the hours ticked by. I went home that AM hit the bone stimulator & crashed out for a solid 7 hours of sleep. I woke up feeling not much better but I think it's just a head cold.

Being an idiot I figured I could sweat it out so I headed over to the Lake to ride my CX bike. I've changed my practices up a little this year & I'm doing some top secret training I can't let you all in on yet just in case it actually works. While riding around minding my own business I see a guy driving around in his car BUTT ASS NAKED! CC practice is going on so there are about 40 kids in the park. What a creep. I looked for the Park Ranger I had seen just 5 min before but to no avail & the cell was in the car. I guess I should have gone over to the Greenways & worked on bunny hopping the barriers. Its going to happen this year in @ least one race!

Now that I know I'm sick I guess it was a good thing I didn't go out in the rain. Hopefully I can shake this by Saturday. Tonight I'm on my 3rd liter of water & I'm starting to feel a little better. Maybe with some luck I won't be too knackered on Sat since Amber, Mia, & my Mom are coming to watch me race. Last year when Mom came to a CX race she got to see me do a 50' baseball slide on my ass right in front of her. That probably wouldn't go over so well this year. I made Amber the coolest bell for CX. I took an old crank arm & attached it to a cow bell. Now she can ring it till she goes deaf & not blister her hand like last season.

Tonight is circle running practice. As long as I can breath I plan on making it. Must train through the pain.

Running in the sand sucks

Not to be out done by Hogan I figured I'd better get the word suck into one of my titles. It really does suck by the way, especially when hauling a 22lb+ CX bike. It really sucks the life out of your legs & your will. Here's some pics from Sat that I jacked of the Cowtown site. You can see the joy in my face disguised as agony.

One Whole Year

It's hard to believe its been a whole year that Amber & I have been married. I know what your thinking "How the hell has she put up with me that long?" I know I ask that all the time. But she's a damn good women & I have my moments. I love you Amber!

Race update#2

Race Update #1

Let the pain, I mean fun begin

I'm sitting in Lawrence, KS killing time waiting for it to get close to the start time to the kick off to my cross season. Thanks to Google Maps I left @ the ass crack of dawn since it said the drive time door to door would be 4 hours, 36 min. Not even close 3 hrs 5 min! So now I'm a few hours shorter for sleep & have some time on my hands. So I'm sitting in Panera having a bagel & a coffee surfing the net.

Its a balmy 38 degrees with a feels like temp of 33. Sunny with light wind. The high is only supposed to get to 68, Perfect cross weather. The plan right now is to race 3x. Subject to change once I see the course since the 3/4 & 1/2/3 races are back to back. Plus we'll see how I feel after the Master's & 3's races.

All for now will try & get a results update later.

Thug

The pyramid of death

More circle running tonight. This time @ MSU. Being a little closer to home I rode the SSCX over. Made for a nice little extra to the workout. Tonight's players were me(duh), Cale, Cox, her friend Kelly(Cox called me out on not remembering her name, I was trying to be all stealthy & catch it in conversation, but put it on the internet & it will be found), Skippy who rode his yard gnome bike over, & the one, the only Hogan, sans soccer cleats & anger. There was a little chill in the air tonight giving it a true cross feeling. Tonight I did a pyramid workout 200, 400, 600, 800, 800, 600, 400, 200 all in 1:30 pace. I hit them all several seconds faster though & didn't hurt too bad. For the longer intervals I gave myself 3 min recovery, the shortest just 200 meters. Hopefully I won't be laid out with soreness this week since I'm going to attempt to race this weekend.

CX bike tests

Took the CX bikes out to Lake SPR this afternoon for some shake down riding. Not too bad have some fine tuning but that was too be expected. Saddle height, rear brakes, etc. Just minor stuff. Few more shake down rides & I should be ready to go.

Miscellaneous thoughts from practice:

I bought a set of cheap Kenda kwik's to put on the SS'er, actually pretty good tires for the dry conditions. If you need a cheap spare set I'd recommend them. Though I think they would be a bit slippy on wet grass or mud.
Dismounts & remounts need a little work but not to bad for first CX ride of season. Did manage to whack my nuts pretty hard one time, that'll wake you up.
SS'er skipped the chain off twice. Not sure why yet will have to do some investigating into that one.
Early afternoon not best time to ride @ the lake since CC practice is going on. Does add an interesting element dodging high school kids. Got asked if I was Phil Harris. What the hell is up with that?
Think I'm going to like running 2 rings up front this year. Gives me a lot more options.
Going to have to do some more running since I'm going to have to run with the bike more when on the SS.
Think the gearing combo is about right on the SS. Might tweak it a bit a gear inch or 2 either way. Have to do some testing & some Sheldon Brown figuring.
Ran into Coach Norton out for a spin on his CX bike.

The much awaited CX pics

Here they are my 2 steeds for cx season. The current plan is to use the SS CX for Master's races & as a pit bike, & the geared CX for the real suffering.

The SS'er

My home made spacer.

The Geared CX, flat black & stealthy. I'm running 2 rings up front this year with tubular wheels. This will be my first ever experience on tubbies so why not do it during CX.

A last minute addition, a hand made brake hanger. I thought about cutting out the bridge but I like the idea of being able to run fenders if I want to use this as a foul weather bike.

So, so sore

That's right I bite off a little too much Wednesday. I hate to imagine what condition I'd be in if I hadn't got a massage after loops. Decided sleeping in yesterday was the best course of action. SS CX bike made a loop around the neighborhood this AM. Pretty cool. Hopefully geared CX will follow suit shortly.

Track #1

Yep its that time again. Got out tonight & did my first running since the Turkey Trot last year. I'm thinking this year I might attempt the trot without running 5k in one shot. I met Cale, Rob, Cox, her friend whose name I can't remember, Skip(yes I was floored too), & Farasy all kitted out. They were doing a VanFasten workout while I stuck to tried & true 400's. 10 of them to be precise. Was able to finish all of them in my desired time so not too bad an effort. Need to put the HR on next time to see how deep I'm digging. Though I didn't seem to hard pressed to stay well under 1:30. Toward the end I did feel the old legs getting a little sore.

When I got home Amber had me a good dinner waiting & even treated me to a damn fine massage. You'd figure a guy married to a massage therapist would get a massage all the time but some how it just doesn't work out that way. Hopefully that with the I Be Brokens will let me get on the bike tomorrow.

Tuesday instead of bike practice I went & helped Uncle Jeremy put an alternator in his Passport. I should have known something was not just right when I was told to bring a floor jack. I called in advance to make sure the alternator wasn't hidden in the motor or the likes. It was pretty damn close though. You have to go in through the wheel well to get to it. Engineers are so freaking smart! I think they purposely teach them how to make 5 bolts almost impossible to get to. Really it wasn't to bad once I figured out how to get to it.

The Dunsmuir household has officially switched to DSL. Got it up & running this afternoon before loops. Pretty fast. Was mildly impressed to see it seems faster than cable. Because of this most of you got an email with my new email address. If you didn't get it drop me a line on the old one before it disappears.

Big bike practice this weekend @ the lake. OG says something in the ballpark of 110. Works out nicely since I wanted another century before cross season.

The little engine that made me wait

Its pretty normal for me to have to wait for the occasional train on the west side. Never too long a wait. That is till last night. I sat for almost 30 min btwn 3 crossings. Once I saw the train wasn't moving &I would turn around & head to the next possible crossing to have to move on to the next. So I finally gave up & waited. I had 2 more options in the next mile but I figure they were blocked too, so that made 5 RR crossing blocked within a 2 mile span. I'm not sure but I thought the Rail lines weren't allowed to stop traffic for that long. I had wanted to get in an easy 40oz but opted out after the long delay.

That's a long non moving train!

Stop 3 finally the end of the East bound train.

On the return trip had to wait another 5 min for the West bound train.

Bone doc this AM. X Ray showed promise. A slight hint of growth. Have to use the bone stim for another month then go back in January for another pic to see my progress.

Tomorrow night is circle running part one. Haven't done any running since the Turkey Trot last year so figure I'll do a different workout than the rest. Hopefully I won't puke. I'm going to try & get Amber to come with. Maybe the prospect of seeing the MSU foootballers will have her run circles with me.

Pretty good weekend

Not too bad a weekend as far as they go. Didn't get everything done that I wanted but still the same pretty good. Saturday got in a decent bike practice after freezing for the first 1.5 hrs. Later that day headed over to Target with Amber & Mia. We had to get some bottle nipples since Mia is now imploding the stage 1 nipples(if you have kids you'll understand the jargon). We we're standing there choosing when I turned around to see something you don't see every day. Governor Matt Blunt in shorts & a Tshirt shopping with his kid. Security guard in a bad suit not far behind. After he left the isle I asked Amber if she knew who that was, nope. That's ok I wasn't that impressed either. I figure it was some sort of publicity stunt anyway. Funny thing was it seems I was the only person who recognized him.

Saturday night Amber's parents, Rick & Debbie came over & we BBQ'd up some big fat T-Bones they got from Harter House. MMM Good. Lucky & Lacy got the bones. Normally I make them do tricks for treats but I feared for my life so dropped the bones & ran. Bones lasted less than 5 minutes. Devil hounds!

Sunday got in another good bike practice bright and early. On weekends I've started getting up at the ass crack of dawn & getting in some good miles. After getting home & taking a nap got up & mowed my lawn for what I hope is the last time of the year. I've been putting off for just this reason.

Sometime this week should have both Cross bikes built up & will post final pics. I was checking out my stable. After selling one off Saturday to JJ I now have 6 completely built up & 1 frame. You ask how many bikes does a guy need? I'm thinking 12 easy plus Amber still needs one & then Mia is a year or two away from needing several.

Mia & her new Pterrence jumbo size.

Mia ,Pterrence, & little PterrenceWore out!