These updates are getting pathetic!

I have so much to write about and so little time or energy to put into it.

Really exciting changes coming up in the next few weeks.

Already scheduling the 09 cx season.

Below are my scattered thoughts from the last couple weeks:

– a fortnight ago:

Big week on the bike for me. I’ll be stoked if I fit in 20 hours. Windy, windy rides all week and finally a little sun today!

This one is for you Heidi. Flexing in the sun in Canby. I hope you were able to get out and do a big ride this weekend!

The sun makes me crazy! Felt great to ride with friends today.

- last week:

Sprayed by a skunk on my VTT ride in Forest Park yesterday. It fully got me!

Possibly the worst/funniest thing ever to happen while riding.

Found a new, legal and fun little single track section and I passed what I assumed was the biggest cat I had ever seen. What I thought was a hiss was in fact, the spray hitting my bike. Now, I have stunk up the Veloshop. My shoes are toast, my bike will not stop smelling after 4 thorough scrubbings and washes. My kit is still a little skunky after a few washes. i may have to throw it out.

Hilarious. Joel and I were on opposite ends of the critter while it was hissing and stressing out. Lunging towards us and in between us, it did not want to ditch the trail for the forest and Joel had to bushwhack out and around it. The whole time we are yelling and barking at it, tossing logs and sticks at it trying to get it to clear out.

I almost had to throw up by the time we got back home.

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I’ve got good gossip and rumors but. It will have to wait.

There is so much momentum in my business right now!

Bring on the sunny weather!

Well, it did. I wrote the content below before last week which has proven to be icy, snowy and silly again.

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I was at my breaking point there for a bit. last weekend was brilliant! The sun rolled in, gave me a sunburn and I finally got some good riding in.

“I’ve heard FMB surpasses Dugast in quality now that he has his shop rats building the tyres.”

Overheard that recently… Interesting. Brings up a good point.

Is a product inferior if it is not produced by the same person who founded the company yet still produced under the same brand/workshop?

On the phone with Challenge Italy today: 1 maybe 2 new cx treads from them this season. “if there is a race condition, we want to provide a tyre for it!”

The USA/Italy/Thailand Challenge honcho was not a bad cx racer in his day.

That got me thinking so, I stumbled across these results. Amazing. Most in the NW and Oregon will recognize most of the names from these CxCrusade results. I was not even thinking about racing cx at that point.

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And back to my reality. Snow on my ride today. Heard it is dusty down at Sea Otter. Rock got into Georgia which everyone already knows and the only really exciting thing is going to be following Doug in long breakaways. Tattoo faced team mate of his got 3rd down at Sea Otter in the NRC road race. Love or hate Rock Racing, they are pretty fast and all of Ball’s $ bought a team able to go for the overall while taking stage wins.

My homeboy Brian posts another update from Africa.

Our favorite visor wearing VTTing ex-cx champ had a stellar World Cup result this weekend too. I had Adam Craig as a favorite for the podium… That is pretty exciting. And you can tell from his blog he is pumped about it too.

And finally…

…my knees hurt. Getting back on the bike (for the first time this year, again) for the base mileage. Put in some frigid hours in the wind, snow and hail this weekend.

If the weather is going to continue to be this shitty every year into May, I’m just going to shift my race season forward 6 months and start racing in October and end in February in Europe racing the late cx stuff. Then I can come home and take a couple months off and start my base miles in the good weather.

One of the best US field sprinters.

He tells me no motorpacing on knobbies, so I don’t motorpace on knobbies.

No glory in US field sprinting, get a real job Adam.

“I had the impression that Molly, the shop owner, was a pompous dick head”

No hate in 08!! Why is everyone so scared of me? It must have been my appearance on this Belgian variety show:

Started the Ronde van Portland this morning with Hulick, Brian Ellin and a hundred other people. I swear I saw VDB in the peloton. I rode all the way up Brynwood (25 rpm, 5 mph, 410 watts average for 4 minutes. ahem, 25 rpm for four minutes. ouch.) then Brian and I decided to grab coffee and get to work on time! (ps: I should rub it in Brian’s face that I beat him to the top AND finished it off with a Jonathan Page style wheelie. in your face sucka.)

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Been doing lots of bike fitting work. It is pretty exciting to keep challenging myself in a different aspect of cycling. The Veloshop, my personal racing and 3 different cycling teams I am involved in, bicycle product development and testing, bicycle fitting and performance. Someday I’ll be really good at one of these things.

I’ve been meaning to give a big shoutout to Sean Babcock. I have not been on the VTT much at all this year… that kid is PRO material, winning the most recent (semi-pro) NORBA at Fontana… hurry up and get a PRO license. You’ll be right up in the top ten no problem.

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The Organic Athlete staff crashed at my house on the way back to Sebastapol after attending Vegfest in Seattle a week ago. It was a standard evening in my house=steamed veggies + laptop party.

I lead a simple, boring life.

And now my calves hurt. Thanks Brad.

Geez! There was so much interest in my old gear from the last post and most of it was sold the day after I wrote about it!

Al I have left in USED tyres are:
2 x FMB 34mm custom Racing Ralph $175 the pair! (well used, still in great shape)
1 x FMB 34mm SSC Sprint $80 (barely used! can match up with a new Sprint for $200 the pair)

The Veloshop is a Dugast and FMB dealer. Keep that in mind.

I’ve got a decent stock of cx stuff left with road and track tyres coming. (someday soon?)

Rumor has it the pricing is going up but until further notice:

Dugast and FMB cyclocross tyres are: $125 each.

Got Rhinos in 32 and 34, white Pipistrellos, FMB PROs and custom 34mm Racing Ralphs.

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I did not even know about this DVD. Need to get a copy!

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And my secret crush is the first woman EVER to win world titles in Road, Track and Cyclocross. I’ve kinda got a schoolgirl crush on her. Maybe it is just the Wallonian in me. I love a champion. Or maybe it is her youthful acne. She is not a drop dead hottie and is awkwardly cute so, I’m even more into her. Plus (per the euro standard) almost every advertisement with with her in it makes her look horrible!

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Fucked, totally fucked!

I’ve been getting flak about this one for a while.

A: because I am probably a whole lot of people’s only vegan acquaintance.
B: because I live in Portland.

Yes, I barfed a little in my mouth after watching it too.

Shit, it is snowing again. Anyways… my 3rd or 5th wave-post feminist-radical feminist politics urge me to support women doing whatever the hell they want to be doing. Stripping=cool. But that guy is a douche bag. No, really.

“we put the meat on the pole” yikes!

PS: Casa Diablo is located a mere 3 blocks from the Chris King world headquarters in NW Portland. What? I’m not implying anything. I’m just saying it is nice that they can go eat a low cholesterol meal any day of the week.

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The batteries are charged. I would like to ride my bicycle. Please stop snowing.

“But doesn’t get petrol more expensive every week.”

Hell yeah! It is an ad but worth the whole 7 minutes.

The best part about this one is the Flemish announcers FREAKING out about Johan and then Axle Merckx in the sprint finish. They sound like they are going to pee their pants!

“come on, come on. come on johan. come on johan! Come on Johan! COME ON JOHAAAN!!”

yeah!

This guy deserves an Alice award. I could not afford to attend the Alice Awards this weekend so, I got to do a bunch of paperwork and make muffins!

These were the days: