Just Riding Along

2009-11-05T14:20:00.002-05:00

Jan 29th. Oooof!

Christophe badgered me the other day to start blogging again. "Dooooooo it!" he said. Starting is easy. As is forgetting all about it and going south of a year between posts.

I have been racing 'cross pretty much non-stop since September cobbling together one of the best seasons yet. It's been more about finding the perfect line and riding it as fast as I can while being smooth and oozing confidence than it has been about about results. Its funny because the results have been coming. A few trips to the podium, a few near misses to box and a lot of hard on the rivet racing deep in the cave. A lot has come together and clicked for me. Unexpectedly.

Mixing strong coffee with early morning rides, embrocation has become the ritual - the smell and the tingle signals go time.

Paying attention to the finer points of the preparation has yielded better quality in each ride, digging deeper from within and allowing the fall spectacle to overwhelm the senses.

Coming home totally blown has also become common place. They say that success breeds success. I have found this to be true. The great rides have snowballed and bad legs have been hard to come by. More time has been spent counting down until the next ride or the days until I toe the line again. Like a caged dog I can't wait to be released.

Speed, confidence, smoothness and strength. Cyclocross in 2009 has been good to me.

Hoogerheide Pre-Ride

2009-01-29T09:33:00.002-05:00

Pre-Ride this weekends Hoogerheide World Chaponship Course:

Takes a little while to load but totally worth it. I'm going to a World Championship party at 7am on Sunday. Beer and Waffles - as it should be. Totally awesome.

Toe the line.

2009-01-13T13:03:00.003-05:00

Set today's race course this morning on my way to work. A racer's course for sure, it was nice to ski in the early morning hours. Dead silence. First run is always the best. I shouldn't have been persuaded by the lack of sun at 7, I bet skiing the sunrise would have been amazing.

Bank it.

2009-01-09T13:20:00.005-05:00

Skiing is Skiing.

You have the good days of awesome, prime, goormed snow. And then you have the days like yesterday when its a sheet of ice and you use your face to stop a few times.

It sucked. I didn't want to ski. And my legs are all sore from not having good technique.

But later this year when I come screaming down a hill and cut a sharp turn only to realize I'm on a sheet of ice, I'll stick it without thinking about it - all beacuse I sucked it up and skied an hour and half on shit frozen product.

It all adds up one way or another.

2009-01-02T18:23:00.002-05:00

Knock, knock.
You still there?

January '08 started with all good intentions - train, fitness, race, rinse, repeat.
But then life happened.
Perhaps a touch of laziness added in.
I road. The passion was there. Exploring the roads and trails of my youth.
I love climbing again.
I toed the line twice. three times?
The highlight was sprinting for the line at Gloucester.

I've made a few changes. Thought about blogging again. Someplace to add some photos. Talk about the adventures past/present/future.

I'm Nordic Skiing now. Volunteering as a coach.

Tomorrow I'm racing. I could care less how I finish. I'm more excited about going for broke and blowing myself up. See where the line in the sand is. See how I stack up against my team. Take a look around and see whats inside.

Now that you're up to date, Lets see where this goes.

hup hup

It's the new cycling

2008-05-16T09:55:00.000-05:00

Back in the game.

2008-04-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

Its right around the corner:

2008-02-23T10:11:00.002-05:00

Sound on!

Good thing George has a real bike this year...

2008-02-02T08:05:00.000-05:00

I've moved.

That guy is my new neighbor. But apparently no one in my circle knows who he is. (well the two of you that do, go riding with him on occasion so it isn't as exciting.)

I forgot to call about the group ride. Hope its tomorrow.

Stolen from Molly Cameron's blog:

2008-01-22T17:38:00.000-05:00

Oh Cipo, what are you doing?

Does that guy in the back ever not wear a trucker cap?

All ya need is one

2008-01-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

Timbs for my hooligans in Brooklyn

2008-01-18T17:07:00.000-05:00

Just spreading that bike love around...

2008-01-15T18:56:00.000-05:00

Stolen From Cyclingnews.com

2007-12-21T11:56:00.000-05:00

Motivation.

Trees Fall Hard

2007-12-18T15:20:00.000-05:00

Below is the crash that took out Tree Farm at 'cross nats in KC. If you are the woman in my life, you are better off skipping this:

Ouch.

"Separate but equal is inherently unequal"

2007-12-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

US Mountain Biker Georgia Gould has petitioned the UCI to offer equal prize money for men and women in the top 5 spots. There is an article on Velonews about it and also a link below if you'd like to sign the petition for equality.

Click here to sign.

Cover Boy

2007-12-10T17:16:00.000-05:00

So back at the Mountain Bike Nationals I took this shot:

Being part of the Twin Six Tribe, I rooted for the only T6'er in the pro mens field. Upon returning back to the 'hood, I sent Brent at T6 (waaaaayyyyy cool guy) and e-mail with the photos for their enjoyment.

We got the '08 Twin Six catalog at the shop today and I'm checking out the 50 or so little pictures that make up the cover.
"holyshit, thats my photo!"

Racer superstar, expert potato masher, pro dog walker, swiffer vac wonder kid and now I got the cover shot!

I leave in the morning for the Milian fashion show; I'm shooting for Vogue.

2007-12-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

Picture stolen from Pez Cycling News:

Forget the screaming people, check out the mountains in the view. This is whats so cool about cycling. You ride your little ass up huge mountain passes, through valleys, down alpine descents, to the liquor store, on a set of rollers...those pedals, your legs, some wheels; they take you places. You see things. Experiences are different, life is had, enjoyment mingles with pure sweet pain.

For the love of the ride. For what lies around the next bend.

Oh Snap!

2007-11-20T18:43:00.000-05:00

Flemish is the only way to watch 'cross.

Oh snap:

(I cleaned that messy work area today btw)

outtie

2007-11-12T18:30:00.001-05:00

Words are overrated, lets photo dump:

been racing. been sucking. what can you do? I have the handling skills, I just need the power. But next year right? Looks like I've snapped.

saw this guy during a race and my thoughts went something like this:
"oh shit jay, what the fuck did you do to yourself? your seeing things"
"maybe I didn't see that"
"shoot. shit. uh, uhm.... mary had a little lamb...."

I got to see that guy. He's pretty rad. Good to warm up with a friend just shooting the shit. 'sept for the fact that you can't see who the hell he is:

I stole all of those pictures from different places on the internet.
If you have good eyes, you can see me at the start someplace in the middle of the pack, right side.

Like I said, good eyes.

Also, check this out:
http://www.crosstube.net
pretty cool site for cx vids in super low, grainy resolution. just the way i like.

this was too many words.

2007-11-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

I've spent the morning looking a pictures like this:

and watching videos like this, looking out the window at whats left of the hurricane that is dumping on us.
Sigh.
I should have gone and raced the Chainbiter 9.0. Would have been sweet to ride in 50mph winds, rain and 40 degrees. It is the place i met a certain someone....

Tomorrow is the Cycle-Smart International, the country's oldest UCI race. That course is so awesomely dope. Seems like most of the big guns are out west so it should be a good day. I'll be able to hang on the back and if the legs are good and the luck is right, maybe even pick up a point or two.

My head is fully healed from last weekend debacle. I dropped my chain twice and my seat slipped twice. I melted down four times but got myself together again another four times and passed people. I even out kicked someone at the line. I'm getting there, its just gotta come together some more. Focus on the good.

I can't get over how awesome my industry nine wheels are. They hold speed sooooo well. There were a few short, steep risers that I was gapping people on because the the wheels were so fast.

I guess thats it. To Sparta.

ATA Cycle Nominated for 'Dig This' Award

2007-10-29T09:54:00.000-05:00

We've been nominated before, been winning by a lot only to loose after they make the ballots secret but lets try this again:

2007 Dig This Awards can be found under that link. We're a few pages deep (make sure you vote for your favorite lesbian night, dive bar, high end sushi, sex shop, urban street wear and denim along the way) but please take a few min out of your work day (i know you don't want to actually work) and vote.

And now a picture of one of my bikes:

maybe I'll get a post about the cluster fuck that was my race later...

Canton Cup

2007-10-27T20:04:00.000-05:00

I read this somewhere and its stuck with me, so this is what we're going to do:

"...Tomorrow's CX race will be about nothing but being confident and aggressive for one hour. "

Gin and Juice

2007-10-23T18:14:00.000-05:00

The whip is all done for '07:

Ballin!

Industry Nine hooked a hommie up with some dubs so I picked pink hubs and spokes laced to Stan's rims. I'm pretty sure that my father-in-law thinks I'm gay but its all good in the hood.

It's pretty insane how many people love the wheels. I flew solo to the race this weekend (17/40 - pretty dope course some awesome "no brake-euro shoot" descents) but heard a large number of people cheering for the wheels. Now I just need to get more speed to match the bling bling dubs.

The ascetics blew me away when I first saw them, but its not whats on the outside that counts right?
Right!
The wheels are way stiffer than anything else I've ever ridden. With the 6 pawls they get on the gas waaaaay sooner.

I like.

I'm so excited about the bazillion races that I'm going to be doing in the next four + weeks. Maybe I'll even be able to keep updating.....

My hands hurt.

2007-10-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know what I've done lately but my hands have been through the meet grinder and are residing nicely in the meet locker.

Well actually I do know what happened.

I stopped a disc brake rotor with my thumb today. That did a number on the nail.

On the pointer of my right hand I tore a pretty good chunk of my nail up when I slipped a shift during yesterdays race. That felt real good.

I bruised my thumb fixing someones flat.

I also chaffed close to the knuckle on the other pointer. I don't know how I was holding the shifter but its not too happy right now.

And thats the state of my hay makers.

So cool

2007-10-22T16:34:00.000-05:00

If I ever own a shop, frames will be displayed on the racks of deer's heads.

oh yes.

Bike racing can wait.

2007-10-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

New Enlgand worlds can can wait another year

I'm off to Ireland. CX season to start the weekend of my return. The UCI boys better watch out!

wtf?

2007-09-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

I'm all for spay/neutering animals but animal birth control? With Levi?

I guess Lance got all the good endorsements.

A Case of the Rambles

2007-09-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

I feel the need to update but there isn't really anything earth shattering going on right now. Nothing new, just more of the same.

I put a carbon Easton EC70 stem on my cx whip. I know better, I do. It just looks so hot. I'll ride it for a day or two and then take it off. Just needed to change something.

My first cx race for keeps isn't until November 3rd. I'll be missing New England Worlds for my honeymoon 'cross the pond in Ireland. I think if I tried to bring the bike to do a race I'd get divorced. Besides, I couldn't find any races. I love you dear.

I raced in Milford. The course was cool. I road McCormic's wheel for a solid lap then made a few bobbles and took up residence off the back. I felt like shit and never came around. Everything sucked. After my sweet ride in Jersey, I put some expectations on myself and did my usual sucking of the turds. That and my legs felt hallow. Maybe too much riding? Who knows for sure.

I'm super excited about Interbike. I wasn't able to talk myself into Vegas but it's always cool to troll the interwebs looking for the new crap I'm going to lust over for the next few months.

I guess now is as good as any to annouce that yet another company has taken pity on me and it hooking a bro up with some swag.

I'll be running Industry Nine wheels this 'cross season. Now pull up your chair nice and close because I'm going to say this once: tubeless. Ok, discuss amongst yourselves. I'll give the wheels the attention they deserve when I get the anodized amazingness sometime after interbike.

It's almost beer o'clock and I'm outtie.

2007-09-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

You gotta love the Sunday morning team meeting. Its always good for a double flush, sometimes you get a triple - thats how you know its game on.

Screw it and ride.

It's been my mantra for the last month. August I did lots and lots of miles, some hard, some easy and quick, some stupid, but all fun. No heart rate monitor, just me, my lungs n' guns and unadulterated burrrapin'.

I didn't follow any kind of training plan other than trying to make myself pop on the long rides (a few in the triple digits, riding my cross bike on mtb trails and doing lots of plyos and core workouts. Why? gotta get hard for cycle cross yo.

The plyos ended up being a little more than I thought they would be. I spent most of the week with sore legs that I couldn't quite shake off. Everyday I told myself that I'd take the day to get my legs back. When it came down to it I decided I'd rest tomorrow. I guess its good that I'm doing them because its an obvious weakness.

Resting ended up working out cuse I can't think of the last time I had a shitty ride. The 1track has been perfectly buffed out and fast. I also found a shit ton of new trails right when I thought I'd ridden all the 1track there was to be had at the fells. Plus I've slept like baby.

Anyone got any clue what these things are?

I see them on the trails all the time, and sometimes by the side of the road.

Today I'm racing some cx up in Milford NH. I'm excited to giv'er and let the flag fly. Should be a good event. To say that I'm motivated and excited about cross is a bit of an understatement.

Enjoy the ride ya'll, you'll never know what your going to find next.

Smoking is bad and all but...

2007-08-27T18:44:00.000-05:00

If you build it, he will wreck it.

2007-08-21T08:41:00.000-05:00

I decided that my 8 year old cousin needed a new bike. I talked Grandma into posting the funds and I found the most bad ass mountain bike a kid could have.

100 mm of travel and disk brakes.

I doubt the kid is over 80 pounds, but the downhillesk BB/Crank combo has got him covered. Oh, and he just learned how to roll his off-road golf cart.

Buuurap!

Sunday's race went well. Lots and lots of fun had by all. Maybe I'll get into roadie meets more and just try and blow myself up and make everyone else misrable. Its a lot of fun that way.

eh, but then again its still a roadie meet.

I saw this tricked out prototype Argon 18 at the shop yesterday....TRICK!

4Sale

2007-08-16T13:05:00.000-05:00

I've got tons of tires (mountain bike, road, 'cross). Some slightly used, some new

Stems in all different lengths and clamp sizes

Spinergy Front Wheel

Shifters, brake levers, bottle cages etc...

If there is something you are looking for or want to know more about what I have, leave a comment or contact me through my profile. I want to get rid of some stuff for CX season, so I'm selling cheap yo.

Saturday Night Fever

2007-08-13T18:08:00.000-05:00

'Cross in August? Oh yes.

Cross is just so much fun, there isn't much more to say. The race was held at the New Jersey "state" fair. In reality it wasn't much larger than any county fair I've been to, but it was still DOPE.

The course was built inside the demolition derby pit. There were burrmed out turns, whoops, a stair case run up, a dirt pile descent, barriers and of course a few sections of mud. The course was short, .75km, but pretty fast. Oh, and it was under the lights.

My internet boyfriend was there and he P'owned his class. After a slow start up, he road his way through the field to a 4th place finish. I smell an upgrade coming.
My night began shortly after his ended.

The super elimination seemed like a good idea on paper, but with a large lack of foresight from the planners, it ended up being a dud.

After leading much of my first heat, my legs ran out of some punch and I faded to 3rd, just outside moving on to the next round. I got a second chance but soon realized that I was burying myself for nothing. I could move on to the next round but that would require me to bury myself again only using more of my legs up. With a 40 min main event later in the evening, I thought it'd be better to sandbag it and let everyone else use their legs up. The fact of the matter was, I didn't have the interval work required to keep a 5-8 min all out effort. It is only Aug. after all.

The race went well. I avoided the deck at the start as a few people tangled and one guy offered a karate kick to the middle of the field. That was pretty rad. Everything went single file pretty quickly. With a short course in a small area you could see where other people were. I held position in relationship to the leaders for a while. They eventually started attacking each other and lapped me. I wasn't paying any attention to time and didn't realize how many laps to go until about 5 remained. After a while it was me just trying to catch the guy in front of me. Staying full gassed as much as I could. Shit hurts so good yo.

My remounts were kick ass. I've still got somethings to work at getting over the barriers, but this was by far the most consistently best I've gotten over them. Yea that was an awful sentence.

Considering this race was the first time I was really on and off my CX bike since 'Cross Nats last year, I think it went super well. I finished 16th, a straightaway off of a top 15 finish. I'm pretty stoked on how things went.

The race was an excellent motivator to train harder. Also a good reminder of the small changes I need to make to my technique to become that much faster. I'm all kinds of amped up for 'Cross season.

There are lots of excellent photos over at my Flickr account. All of the photos were taken by Bill Moore, who is one of Christophe's friends. I met him for the first time at the race and he's a kick ass dude, who takes amazing photos. I hope to see more of him.

I'm switching over to the dark side this weekend in an effort to get Andy a W in his hometown circuit race. Should be an easy way to get some speed into my legs...

For real now,

2007-08-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

Oh what luck

2007-08-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

4 flats
1 week
3different bikes

All along I thought that 13-13 was double the luck.

Group ride tomorrow. I'm ready throw down a bit and demoralize some souls.

El Mount Snow

2007-07-23T16:43:00.000-05:00

I've been a boob about blogging my latest adventure to Mount Snow. Now well over a week ago, there really isn't any way to get across the feeling that a race like this brings me. I sat down and tried a few times but scrapped all of them because I couldn't get across the feeling.

I owe a huge debt to Greeley and Andy as they spent 3 days inconvenienced with the use of one of their two cars because they lent me the other. I couldn't get my shit together and find a ride up to the mountain so Greeley lent me her Jetta (pretty sweet little car) to take to Snow.

My race didn't go as planned, but it ended up being good anyway. I sucked the climbs but let loose on the intense 1 track descents. The confidence that I felt is one that I will feel for a long time. I figured out how good it feels to go downhill fast, connecting the mess of roots, rocks and rutted earth letting the bike go where it wants in the fastest line down the mountain.

The pro race was, as always, inspiring. I always walk away with goose bumps, wanting to ride my bike.

C dogs was on his A game. He was as high as 7th spending most of the day inside the top 10. With the big dogs. Seeing the top Americans walking up the course just shows how nasty the freaking climbs were.

Every time someone would find the 5mm swath of dirt that was climbable and would clear the section, the hills would erupt in cheers. The only other time I've heard a race louder was CX Nats.

MULLET! MULLET! MULLET!

I've got a whole album of shots here.

I've been laying low, taking time off the bike. Don't really want to, but I guess I need a mid-season charge up. I'm looking forward to some longer rides in the next few weeks and then ramping it up for CX. I also want to make sure I'm in top form for the wedding. I don't want to get fatigued shaking my booty and miss out later in the evening if you know what I mean...

2007-07-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

I distinctly remember telling H that I wasn't feeling the start and it was cool if she missed it for nature's reasons. What happens? I end up givin'er and ride into third wheel after my last row start spot.

Funny how that happens.
I got a killer warm up busting out a lap during the sport race. The course was alright. Almost straight up the ski slope, down another ski slope, up some teki 1 track, a little more ski slope climbing finishing off with some DOPE 1 track into a soft bermed-out-fresh cut- single T descent. To say that I enjoyed riding this section of course is an understatement.
Until the skys opened up and the rain god, she punched us. As I was standing on the line sizing up the pain factor of the race, cats, dogs, pigs, small trailers, starting falling from the sky. With that much rain falling on dry earth, the trail disappeared rather quickly.

I still put in a good ride, took a wrong turn, made some dirt bike noises and then I got cold descending and could barely get warm by the top of the climbs.

So I pulled the plug. I was supposed to only give'r a for a little while in favor of keeping my matches for Snow - this weekend. So it worked out to kill my self in nasty conditions, but not over kill myself.

I'm super excited about Mount Snow in a few days but right now I gotta bounce 'cuse we're about to close the shop.

Laters.

Why I love the Tour

2007-07-16T20:05:00.000-05:00

In case the video moved too fast for you:

2007-07-07T18:41:00.000-05:00

07/07/07. People are paying arsine amounts to be wed on this date. As if pulling the 7's will give your marriage "luck" or staying power for your lack of finding a compatible mate. Lucky I've found mine so I don't need any of that luck stuff. This has nothing to do with cycling.

I think I'm racing the 'All out in Moody park' tomorrow. I say think because nailed my knee into one of the display cases at work today. I was avoiding helping a customer in favor of picking up the phone. Karma is a bitch but I got to the phone first. It hurts when I pedal, I'll have to evaluate in the morning.

Last race was pretty kick ass. Don't remember where it was but there were skull and cross bones on the race flier so that gave it kick ass points before I got there. It was technical stuff and super fun to ride. The start involved me and 50 other people of varying age groups making for a single file first lap. I also fell in a huge hole and had to hand my bike to some cheering folk and get lifted out. It's a better story over some brews. I was 4th until I stopped to use my quick fill and limp my leaky rear tire home and ended up on 5th. Not really what I was looking for, but looking back on it s'all good now.

Pretty kick ass photo if you ask me.

I road with this character on the 4th

Someone is so popular they check their messages in the middle of the woods.
All ribbing aside, it was another kick ass ride on some sick trailage. I'm riding the nasty all nasty like, lets hope that my body comes around with some speed in about two weeks.

It's always cool what you come across deep in the woods (click for a bigger image). Its what is cool about exploring the world around you, you never know what you'll find, even at places you've been to a thousand times.
I'm pretty sure I've got my set up all nailed down for Mount Snow. We'll see if it rains 'cuse that'll throw everything off a bit.

Enjoy the ride ya'll.

Word to the Fathers.

2007-06-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

Now is as good a time as any for a blog post eh? You'd think with the small bit of success that I tasted last weekend, I'd get right on it and blog away but life is busy brah.

So about that success.

Raced the Sterling Sizzler last weekend. I'm a sucker for catchy names. The race was in Connecticut. When I think of Connecticut, I don't think podunk or redneck or anything like that. I was sorely mistaken as we arrived at the bottom of what once was some type of mine. The 'experienced' promoter looked how I imagine Jesus to looked. All in all Jesus can run a pretty decent race, hill billy or not.

The day started out with only one team "meeting" and the team car leaving right on time. The awful directions provided by the race enabled us to get insanely lost. The signs that were promised ended up being the small course arrows that I can't see in a race let alone in a car thats going 60mph trying to get to the race on time. I was able to register with some 30 min before Jesus was to tell me to go. Red Bull and Yodles was on the day's menu. It all went down a bit smoother than the Twinky's of the week prior. We're due for a picture aren't we?

Being hill billy and all there wasn't nearly the amount of riders that I toe the line with usually, and the strength of the smaller field was deff. lacking but as they say in the hood "The buyer of the rotten beans is the blind man"

I took my usual whole shot (as long as I can keep the rubber side down that is) and quickly went to work with the brah who usually wins the much faster Root 66 races.

We hit the single track with a pretty sizable gap over everyone else. Homebra' crashed and I crashed with him (not counting the other 1000+ times I sampled eastern CT's finest dirt). I think he flatted 'cuse I didn't see him the rest of the day. The course was supper technical, muddy and slick. In short, lots of fun to ride.
Everything came together nicely as I slogged away to a 2nd place finish.
The very nice Mount Snow-esc climb was fun to go up and down for the sake of going straight up and then straight down.

There wasn't any podium to stand on or anything, but I still feel pretty satisfied that I was able to put together a good one with the meat of the season upon me. The confidence that was gained is good. Its too bad I wasn't able to line'r up this weekend. Why there aren't any dirt games the weekend of Father's day is beyond me. Next weekend.

I suppose that's a post...

Sponsor's Represent!

2007-06-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

Random splattering:

My longest sponsor who has sunk the most money into me got part of his website up this week:
http://segwayofthehudsonvalley.com/
Or for your convince, click HERE. The other part of the website (there is a link in the bottom left) will be up soon. From what I've seen, its going to be pretty kick ass.

I googled for the website and found some other people who blogged about meeting my dad and riding his Segs. My old man is really getting the word out!

Also of note is the Twin 6 boys have re-vamped their site and they gave some dude his own bio. I can't wait to get my sweet threads! There is some other stuff on there to waste some of your work day on, so take a gander.

And now, a picture cuse I can't blog without at least one:

Word to your moms.

2007-06-08T21:15:00.000-05:00

So uh lots of rinding. Doin' the thang. ya know.

Got the lady a new bike. Mountain bike. Giant. You know how we do.

Its a pretty sweet ride. She's got pole position in the bike room, so I've been checking out all the nooks and cranny's all week.

It was fun to ride with her. H took her first dinger, sacrificing her body for the good of the bike like a true mtb'er. Bruised her hand pretty good but got back on with a smile.

I think she's pretty much hooked because she pulled this out of someone's trash heap:

I road the Battle Road this week.

It was pretty cool. Until I flatted and discovered that the stem on the tube that I had was too short for the dish of the wheels. I road a flat for about 40min to get to Concord and get to the other shop. Good times.
The Battle Road is cool because its away from cars and out in the woods. I really had to pee but there are markers like this all over:

I can't take a pee where people have died. Its just not right.
There were lots of uber old houses complete with people playing dress up.

The build to Nationals has begun. Exciting times except for the fact that all week I was riding with a heart rate cap. It makes you look foolish when your all kitted up on a sweet whip and you've got guys like this following you for miles:

But hey, the goal here is to be going fast when it counts, not putting the hurt on mr. weekend rider.

Lots of Dirt Game offerings this weekend. It'll be good to throw down.

As we say in the hood, Game on.

awww yea...

2007-06-01T21:04:00.000-05:00

Sicko is icko

2007-05-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

Well, being sick sucks. Usually get sick at the change of seasons. Sometime around the end of February and then again around June. I skipped getting sick in Feb, but we're full on now. Where should we start? How about last Thursday:

The ata scored a sweet demo bike. Cinelli Escapade or something like that. All carbon, don't know how it was constructed but it wasn't over sized aluminum and it didn't say Cannondale on the down tube. It was a nice ride. Wasn't the stiffest whip I've been on, but it was responsive and latterly compliant. Theres some industry jargon for you.

It had one of Cinelli's Ram stem/handlebar integrated junk on it. It looks sexy, but functionally it was a bummer. I needed about 2 cm more drop and the drops are flared out all wrong. H couldn't keep her hands off it as we lounged in the afternoon sun eating burritos while people watching. Yea, I ate a burrito kitted up. I believe they call that euro...sept' we were eating New England Mexican so I don't know what they call that.

So still on Thursday; The ride was good but the legs felt a little hollow. I kept the ride short 'in sweet figuring I just needed some extra rest being that I had put in a good few days of trainin'.

Woke up Friday morning with a sore throat and it was all down hill from there. The 40 billion vitamins I downed helped a lot but I still wasn't doing that well. Woke up Sunday still feeling like poo but decided to go to Church anyway.

The start line was in Vermont and yes, I ate that Twinkie before I raced. The 350 calories and 200% fat came in handy. Oh, so tasty. I'm usually one to go for the Little Debbie in my times of need but the cream filling is what sealed the deal. Sorry Deb.

The day before the race I was talking to a customer who had just started racing and didn't like the close proximity and elbows that come with a race. Its one of my favorite parts. I love throwin' them bones. Shortly after my race started, I tangled bars and ate some delicious VT grass. I wondered if it was organic as I curled up and prayed that none of the 42 deep field ran me over. All I could do was smile at the irony as I got back on.

So about a lap and a half later I had picked my way through the field and felt fantastic considering I was on day three of sick. The sick single track and rollers that you could pump kept me in the game as this wasn't no damn roadie course. I made the trip solo and had to hand bottles off to myself this week. No biggie until I came through the feed the last time and heard that the small group I was with was the lead group. I didn't want to loose time cuse shit, I was in the lead group! So I skipped my feed. I watched the two gentlemen attack each other up the long climb that starts the lap only to catch back up to them in the sweet single track that VT has to offer. I attacked in a single track section that I was riding particularly well and dropped the duo. About a mile from the finish and only a long steady climb between me and a beautiful win everything got dark. "hey, who turned the lights out?"

It was everything I had to keep the pedals turning as one after another came by me. I finished 6th and as you can tell from my face, in a world of hurt. I really wish I knew what I was thinking when that photo was taken.

I got beat. I put my cards down on the table and someone else had a better hand. Plain and simple. I've been amazed at how stacked the competition is this year. 5 min. separated the winner from 16th place. 5 min. Thats not that much time in a race that lasts an hour and a half to two hours. I think the competition in the North East is especially good, better than a National even. One of the NORBA Nationals in California had 5 people in the class that I race in. This past weekend? 42 people toeing the line at a local. I get very frustrated that I haven't been able to bump up to semi-pro. I've been on the cusp but haven't been able to pull it off for whatever reason. I'll have a fantastic race here or there but I'm unable to get the string that I need. Maybe it's physical. Maybe its the fact that I'm a mental head case and put waaaayyyy too much pressure on myself. Maybe this is as good as I'll ever be. Something inside me is starting to change. I can feel it. I'm more excited about the adventure ahead then I am about doing well. I was more excited to ride some fantastic single track in Vermont then I was about who was going to be there and how I was going to do. Its a stubble change but a change that I can sense. I'm 22 years old, I've gotta stop taking myself so seriously and enjoy the ride.

Here's to the next adventure.

I don't have a good title right now.

2007-05-20T15:43:00.000-05:00

Check out the changes! I finally spent a little time to gussy up the page a bit. I don't know about the header, but maybe I'll get around to fixing that in the next 6 months.

Life has come hard in the last week. There isn't much I can do but take it as it comes. And thats a hopeless feeling when there isn't anything you can do to console the one that you love other than be there.

The cold rain was fun. Did a number on the trails and I'm concerned they won't dry fast enough for me to do some of my workouts on the mtb. I've really been enjoying mixing things up and doing some good rides on the mountain bike. The dully doesn't beat me up nearly as much as the hard tail did. Plus being out in the woods alone, you don't have to deal with people getting out of their cars threating to beat you up or throwing glass bottles out their windows at you (both happened last week).

I was checking out my calender yesterday and there are 8 or 9 weeks of racing finishing with the U.S. MTB Nationals at Mount Snow. It'll be a perfect block for me to actually start my season and hopefully going pretty good by the end of it. The start of the block may get delayed in starting by a week or two, but we're taking it as it comes.

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a 24 hour race in August. I think solo would be a good adventure. Adventure is exactly what I'm looking for right now. A two man team might be a better idea or even a four man team. I've also been thinking about offering my services for the Trans Rockies. The Trans Rockies is a 7 or 8 day mtb race in Canada over the Rocky Mountains. I've read stories of rich people signing themselves up and not being able to find a partner (you need to do this race with a partner) Other people have offered their bicycle riding services only to have the rich guy pay for the whole thing (it's at least a cool G all things considered). I can ride my bike and I'd need a rich guy to pay for me to go, so maybe I'll put my name on the list and see what happens? That'd be some adventure.
I haven't talked about these options with the important people in my life, they are just things kicking around inside my head right now.

The Yankees are playing the Sox this week. Although it doesn't have anything to do with cycling, its a great time to be in Boston. Let the shit talking begin.

Let's see what the week brings.

Yo! Where you at?

2007-05-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

I got my dirt game on

It was a pretty big field

I got the whole shot and proceeded to drill it without getting bogged down. A lead group formed but the pace never got to my liking, so I backed off a bit and fell back. In retrospect I should have just stayed put because I ended up drilling it for the rest of the race anyway.

The final placing totally blew, but I know what I need to work on. The things I've improved on over the winter are really good things to improve on I've just got to keep my head in the game and not get disappointed. We're talking seconds and I bump up quite a bit so we're right there.

I almost got attacked by a hawk the other day. It was pretty intense.

Lots of wedding stuff got crossed off the list

I'm usually eco sensitive but if I'm going to roll, I might as well roll big.

The H2 in the background was my first choice, but the Escalade has a fireplace as well as huge flat screen TV along with a gazillion other features. Its also got enough room for me and the rest of my 9 person posse. Roll big.
I got to roost some killer trails in my old stomping ground.

It was a tight ride. And when I say tight, I mean all the killer hiking trails pedaler folk aren't supposed to be on. Power slides are also very in.

As are Segways.

They are the new Buuuurrrraaapppppp, Burap.

As always, more adventures are on the horizon.

HHHSSSSSSSSSSHHUUUUUUU!

2007-04-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

Thats the sound of air gushing out of my tire. It happens without fail every year. I get a new quiver of tires and rip the side wall on one while the tire is still semi-new. I guess thats life. I should prob. change them out anyway to use the other tires I have to see what the tread can do.

With the beautiful weather we've been graced with, work has turned crazy. Everyone wants a bike. It's good, but it's also tiring.

Google changed blogger and with it messed up my page. I've been trying to figure out how to change stuff around for the better part of a week, but no dice. I'll figure it out at some point.

And now, a picture of Bracket enjoying the sunshine.

Dirt game this weekend.

2007-04-16T18:16:00.000-05:00

With two options to race this past weekend, you'd think something would pan out. Saturday' Battenkill Roubaix never worked out (shame to, cuse that race had my name all over it). And Sunday's Wells crit got monsoon'd.

I raced Wells the weekend prior. Things went well until I nailed a water bottle, shattering the rubberized plastic top and hooking my front wheel up with a nice flat. The sensations were good tho. (of the race, not the flat)

Its always a good feeling pinning on them numbers...

All the real races seem to be taking their time in coming this year. I feel like in years past, I've already gotten my dirt game on a handful of times. I thought that I'd be able to rip the Anthem 0 this weekend but I'm premature by a week. I think I've found a road race for the weekend to keep me away from Wells Ave. We'll see tho, it seems like the course is kinda weak.

I got a new seat or "saddle" to those purest. The Tioga Spider. Its pretty sick looking eh? I guess at this point I'm leaning towards the road bike but I have yet to pull the trigger as the debate continues.

Da shop is in the running for Boston's A List. Its a business game that pits the best against the pretty goods, to find the amazings. I'm making it easy for you to vote...go HERE and type in your e-mail. Because I believe in choice and democracy, if you really have to vote for someone else you can go here. Now I know a lot of you aren't hardcore customers, but if I've delivered watter bottles and a free hub or talked to you about your favorite Italian addiction that I sell and you ride or shown you the latest carbon wonders when you are really in town to take me out to dinner...I expect you to vote. I know that you have more than one e-mail too.
Just for the record, I haven't gotten any spam from voting.

More in the works.

The Season has started.

2007-04-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

Like last week.....

Left out to dry

2007-04-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

I was looking back at all the posts from the last month or so. L-A-M-E on the amount of posts.

Still no racing.
I guess it was two weeks ago I was going to giv'er at Wells Ave, but the race got nixed due to the snow. There is a Dirt meet in CT on Saturday but homie gotta work, so no dirt for me. As long as snow, sleet, rain, meatballs don't fall from the sky I think I'll debut this weekend at Wells. But who knows, Mother Nature seems to be pissed at us right now.

Last weekend I went home for a handful of days. The thing about going home is I always try and pack everything I miss into the time I'm there. By the time its time to comeback to Boston, I'm uber tired. Thats just the way it is.

I got my bike game on while I was there. It was a really great to see the crew of A.T. and C-Dogs + Marc Gulliickson. Marc is a two time Cycle Cross national champion (among other things) who has since retired. I've hungout/talked to him before I think even ridden with him before but I felt a little silly having him on my wheel being that I have a poster of him winning the a national championship on my wall in NP.

It was a hard weekend for a number of reasons but something that is still on my mind and bothering me is the way I road. With the gazillion hours I've put in this year, I road like shit. On the first climb it was everything I had just to keep pace and the way I climbed didn't get much better from then on out not to mention how I was a squid in the single track. I was really looking forward to giving the new rig a second real ride and showing the PROs that I've done my homework and it was time to play. I know I'm hard on myself but what made it worse was that I was missing the season opener of the NORBA Nationals. I was really aiming for that race but things just didn't workout. I love racing nationals. I up my game, I love the travel of seeing new places and riding new trails with different dirt.

I also get to add to the nationals number plate wall. I guess its good that I didn't go out to Arizona being that I sucked at the bike game this weekend.

I've gotta find some motivation and get my confidence back 'cuse the mental state isn't there right now. We all know that it's 10% physical and 90% mental.

It looks like I've picked up one last sponsor late, late in the sponsorship season. I'll hold off on naming them until I know that its all worked out. I've also got some volunteer stuff going down that will be good for my head/skills and the shop, but I'm going to hold off on the who/what/why/when for a little longer.

over n' out

My Fighter Jet

2007-03-23T16:49:00.000-05:00

The bike is pretty much dialed.

I've got some small tweaks to make on the rear shock but the beast is sweet. After some prodding and coaching, I finally maned up and trimmed the hydraulic lines to my brakes. It went a lot better than I thought it would and I'm super glad that I did it. I got some help and lots of encouragement but it feels good to be able to work on any part of my bike and make it work like I want/how it should. I can't wait to bleed my next pair of brakes because I really understand the process a lot more. Plus it looks really good now.

Now I've just got to wait for the dumping that we were getting last week at this time to disappear. We're close.
I had a fantastic long ride yesterday. Temps in the 50's, rockin' the Belgium knee warmers

The downside is when the roads aren't that great you take them with you. I also haven't nailed down the removal. Jumping in a nice warm shower quickly makes your legs burn like shampoo in the eyes. Dish soap helps a little, but I just can't seem to get it all off. Chalk it up to the cost of lookin' pro.

I happened to bump into a guy that works at the other shop in Concord who was back in town with some of his college friends. They were all racers and we soon got a impromptu group ride in. I had forgotten what it was like to be on a Collegiate team group ride. There is only one speed as the pecking order must be established. With 3 hours in the legs, it was nice to throw in some fast paced tempo riding.

I've been one up'd with my road combo of egg beaters and mtb shoes.

Word to your moms.

I useda' read word up magazine

2007-03-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

I think I got called out when I found this in my in box:

Things have been good. The usual. Training, eating, sleeping, netflix with the lady, walking my dog.
The snow dumping we got this weekend was fun. I left my mtb at the shop and came in on Monday to find this:

It takes a shop to rear a racer.
All the guys really believe in me, its really great support. I've been taking things a bit differently this year. Not as strict with my diet as the season started, but slowly bringing it together as the season has gone on. I haven't really been thinking about racing or beating other people or even racing other people. It's all been about me and how hard I can push myself. We'll see how it works out.
I think this weekend will usher in some racing. Time to take a sip of the jungle juice and see just exactly where everything is. The thing about racing in New England or Boston for that matter, on any given weekend you can toe the line with some decent pros. I've gotten myself into breaks with dudes only to think "Shit, I'm on XY's wheel, how cool is that?!" I think the plan this weekend will be to get into a break and go for a prime, then sit in and watch everyone take each other out going into the finish. I got the keys to the car, might as well take a peek to see whats under the hood.

Real bike racing will arrive in early April. It can't be soon enough. I'm ready to ride my mountain bike all the time. Too bad the trails have been absolute sludge.

I've gotten one decent ride in on the new bike and its pretty sick. I've got a lot to dial in and figure out how to use the dulie to my advantage but in due time. This bike is a natural at all of my weaknesses. Wise man once said: Race your strengths and train your weaknesses. Word up.

Spotted the newest industry trend the other day too. Integrate the seat clamp into the seat. Saving weight, thats how we do.

Rollin on Dubs

2007-03-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

I've been going back and forth on if I should blog about my new ride now or wait until the parts flow in (tomorrow) and write about it in it's bling bling state.

You'll read about both I'm sure.

I have yet to break the bottle of bubbly over the bow and give it a good first ride. My training this week doesn't really allow for it. Saturday and Sunday will be here soon enough.
My first impressions are very positive. Once I get the multitude of things to dial in, dialed in, I'm pretty sure this is going to be my favorite bike yet. I've never had a dualy, and I can see already that I'm going to feel much better at the end of a long race.

I've been lusting over Fox's new white forks since they came out. Fox already made the best forks out there, but the upgrades that they made make the fork even nicer.
Mavic also impressed me with their newest incarnation of the Cross Max SL wheels. The hubs have a new design that looks to shave more weight and the yellow spoke adds a bit of flare. The down side is the decals are etched into the side of the rim, so there is no removal of the decals for the sleeper look that I love.

The Maestro linkage system is top notch. I've mainly been riding on the road to and from work the last two days, and the rear acts like a hardtail. But when I nail the every pothole between work and home (there are a lot, and I hit them all) the rear end just sucks it up. The rear shock has a lot of different options of adjustment that I'm starting to wrap my head around and understand more and more.

The "gusset" on the underside is super sweet looking and makes for a lighter frame.

I could go on and on about all the cool things about my new bike, but I'll spare you. A few good rides this weekend will really help me dial everything in and help me get a better view of the overall picture.

More to come for sure.

Mainly because I was made fun of tonight

2007-03-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

getting acquainted:

More later.

To be Fre-eeee!

2007-03-02T16:39:00.000-05:00

"Who's your heroine honey!?"
"HUH! WHA WHA? HUH, I don't do heroin!......right?"
"You didn't hear all of that?"
"uhmmgggrrrrgle hear what?"
"Downstairs is practicing again...you slept through that?"
"It's 3 a.m....."

The Mrs. and I live above some fellas who fancy themselves rock stars. They aren't very good and the copious amounts of adult beverages they consume don't make them any better (Although they do play a mean rendition of New Kids on the Block and Tom Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance).

3 a.m. seems to be their hour of bewitchment. Its their favorite time of the day to keep the beat with their feet, play the beer pong, yell and scream and play their music amped up and with full percussion.

What does any of this have to do with cycling?
I put in such a good week of training I was able to sleep directly above the sounds of a real life rocking roll band. There are times I'm sure that they have the "11" on their amps.

Double shammy gits'er done.

The eagle is airborne. Somewhere between here and the Giant warehouse.

The Baba received the Giant T-Mobile Team bike this week.

The same bike the T-Mobile team rides in the Tour, before the tour. Only 16 in the country spread out amongst 2000+ retailers and ATA got it. As I like to say when something is really really cool: It's the shit.

It's lookin' like another weekend of the Belgian knee warmers.

Should be fun. Next week it's all about my favorite four letter word.

Dirt.

What do I want to eat?

2007-02-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

Long time eh?

The lack of posts have primarily been due to a lack of anything happening.

The snow/ice/sleet that old man winter hooked us up with last week made things interesting. Seemed like all the cars got stuck and I pitched in in pushing 7 of them out of 3 inches of ice in my hood. This includes the 2 times I had to free the Mrs. It was fantastic upper body work.

I went riding with a bunch of guys last weekend. Big rings were out, and bash guards were in and rightly so. The stunts some of the guys were riding was truly amazing. Overall it was a really great time and I look forward to riding with them in the (hopefully) near feature.

I haven't shaved the guns since CX Nationals and I got around to doing that this past week as well. It was an interesting experience. I had to stop about halfway through and grab some sun glasses because them things was white! The hair did a good job of making it look like I had a tan. Also, I was able to discover some new lines on the WMD's. Huston, we've got some more power.

The most popular word of the last two weeks has been "Lost". As in "where the hell am I? I think I'm lost again." Making already long days even longer, but with better stories for those that live in my world. When I got lost yesterday I put the iPod on video and listened to some 'Cross World Cup action in Flemish instead of tunes. It was like when you talk to Rice Krispies and you think they are talking to you, those Flemish speaking announcers were commenting on how I bunny hopped the pothole to China and made me feel super strong during the twilight of the ride.

Don't even act like the Rice Krispies don't talk to you.

Race bike!

2007-02-09T11:19:00.000-05:00

My new race bike came in last night. The first thing I did when I came into work this morning was build it.

Giant really hooked a brother up this time. Its a Giant Animator and it's got everything an aspiring pro like myself needs in a race bike.
For whatever reason the industry is beating the 29 inch wheel drum saying bigger is better. I've been told that it's not the size, but how you use it. But I wouldn't know anything about that.

12 inch wheels are going to accelerate way faster than anything else out there. Hands down. Plus the low spoke count wheels will keep the weight to a minimum.

The over sized Bottom Bracket will ensure that the insane watts that I produce all go to the rear wheel. The checkered flag sticker gives a strong nod to the racing capabilities of this rig.

The stem/bar padding will keep more than one person happy and future generations a valuable option down the road should the eject button ever get hit while riding technical single track.

Platform pedals and a Chain guard are the only option for keeping my Tim's clean.

Having a bell will help me save the oxygen when trying to scream "on your left" to slower opponents. The fact that this option comes standard is simply insane.

Yea, I'd say I've hit the jackpot with this little number. Can't wait to take it down the chutes of Mount Snow.

This is the moment to save it

2007-02-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

There really isn't anything to report. But I can only go so long without getting my blog on.
Things are humming along at a nice clip. Sometimes there is a cold snap and the temps drop into the digits, but for the most part, I'm excepting that my rides are going to be in the teens and 20s. Its kinda insane that I'll look at 25 degrees and think its a warm day. Makes me wonder if 40 is tropic. Its good to note that I am not the only one who is loosing my marbles:

Most nights I've been in bed around 9, a few times I've been lights out 8:30. Its not my fault really, its all a result of my training. Train hard, sleep harder.

That sweet look took me 10 hard hours in the sack to complete. Its a tough life being a cyclist.

Mainly, I am just waiting right now. Waiting for my bike to arrive. Could be hours, could be days, one never knows.

Hang in there folks, we've got some good things coming down the pipeline.

Take 'em in people.

2007-01-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about the 'cross world championships tomorrow. I am deeply in love with 'euro cross. As Heather points out, I'll watch a cross race on the webs that is commentated in Flemish (I have no clue what they are saying, it all sounds the same to me) but I won't watch a foreign movie with subtitles.
I was checking out the start list for the elite men the other day...

Yea man, thats Dufaide Desgranges. Hatti got 4 slots in the mens race. He was the only guy I beat in my Elite debut at the USGP in Gloucester, so I'm pulling for the underdog. Forget Sven Nys, Dufaide is going to rock 'em.

I think the devil is giving free sled rides

2007-01-26T18:02:00.000-05:00

Today was the first scheduled day of rest. Thank you coach A.T., you've got amazing grasp on whats happening next.
Yesterday was cold too, but not nearly as cold as today is. Near the end of my 4+ hour ride, I was pretty sure I had a brain freeze just from breathing the air. My watter bottles froze within 30 min of getting outside, so I had to sick the frozen mess under my jersey to "warm" it up. Once it got to the point where it was drinkable, I downed it fast but then was presented with another problem. I really had to pee. That was also fun.
I find things on the side of the road all the time. Free TV's, abandoned washing machines, dead animals (like a bat!), food, Mc D's wrappers, condoms, ladies undergarments (how you can leave a thong on the side of the road will forever baffle me) and even slightly new abandoned cars in the middle of the woods, smashed to bits. Yesterday I found this guy:

I have no idea why I like him so much, but he's pretty bad ass.

What else is pretty bad ass?
We started stocking Aegis bikes at the shop. They have the most beautiful bottom bracket junctions ever.

The Original G's got a mighty sweet bike.

And that my loyal 5 readers, is a blog entry.

Its getting hot in here...

2007-01-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is funny. But not, 'cuse eattin' dirt blows.
Watch it once, then watch it a second time and watch the guy who goes flying over the barriers. His body language is priceless.

Now the fire is lit

2007-01-22T17:07:00.000-05:00

I'd like to thank another new sponsor. After some surprise and happiness at the choices that were made available to me, I've decided that the rubber of choice for my 2007 campaign will be Maxxis. I'm supper excited to be enrolled into their programs and look forward to piloting their fantastic treads to some solid finishes on the trail, road or cross course.

Burrrraaaaaapppppp!

fer sale:

2007-01-19T15:53:00.000-05:00

Let's try this again:

Storck Rebel Race.

Free shipping + some extra tires + some new Storck socks if you win and mention my blog. Go get 'em tiger!

Back in my head.

2007-01-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

Lots and lots and lots and lots of miles.
I love training. I love living the life. Wake, ride, work, sleep and repeat. I also love the eating. Good, tasty foods, and lots of 'em.
Doesn't look like the chamois time will subside anytime soon...bustin' my booty this year and its going to pay off big in a few months.
I went on a bang up ride yesterday with Brian from the deep south. It was a good time. Perfect mix of talk and solitude, good pace and some good roads.
I found this picture of Floyd Landis the other day:

I didn't like Landis before. He won the tour. Eh, good for him. But I love the way he is handling himself with his doping saga. Pure balls man. He's not like that Armstrong fella. He eats what he wants, drank beer during the tour and then I saw that photo up there? Pure rock star. More because he isn't running. I haven't really figured out if I think he did it or not (doesn't really matter anyway) but I respect the way he's going out.

Maybe some of you pay attention when your reading my endless banter and are wondering what the deal is with my titles. They have nothing to do with anything. It had a simple beginning, I was listing to some music and getting my blog on, heard a song lyric and decided to use it as the title. As I'm shooting for the stars with popularity in the infested ocean of cycling blogs, I noticed that I was getting a lot of hits based on random song lyrics. People Google some Justin Timberlake, and end up with my blog at the top of the search results. Thats how we do.

What-you-gone-do-now?

2007-01-13T17:27:00.000-05:00

The base miles are in full swing and going quite nicely.

The body came around way sooner than I thought it would. I guess since it was only three or four weeks ago that I was basking in some good form, so I really didn't loose that much....only gained a few pounds. Something that is very good for me being that I'm skin and bones come June and July.

I road in 20 degree temps twice last week for multiple hours only to have it warm up for the next two days where I got a bit of a rest. Tomorrow I start another good block and the weather forecast? 20's tomorrow, teens the day after. No matter what way it's sliced, adverse conditions makes you a harder person. Suffering brings mental strength that enables you to handle whatever is thrown at you and allows you to suffer more the next time. Pay it forward.

I've been on quite the tear lately on building or re-inventing my bikes.

Took me a summer to save up for and was my first real mountain bike. Won my first race on her....maybe I'll try my hand at a single speed race this year....I'm done for a while, I swear.

I'm spoiled to be around such nice bikes at work. We've got some hot shit here.

Just buildin' the bucket....or fillin' it, depending on where I am.

getin' on the www's

2007-01-08T16:18:00.000-05:00

So my Lycra covered butt is in the latest Velonews photo contest.

To vote:
Send an e-mail to Rosters@InsideInc.com with the title of the picture you'd like to win. Mine is: Jason White at the 2006 Cross nats.

Although I get nothing from winning, I don't like to loose. Christope will get a cycling photography book or something......

Too bad it isn't race season again....speaking of: if any of ya'll wanna ride, Its slow and low, thats the tempo. Hit me up and we'll hit the tarmac. But vote first. From both of your e-mail addresses.

63 degrees on 01/05/2007 in Boston.

2007-01-05T17:38:00.000-05:00

I'm in a bad mood. But it's not going to hinder my blogging abilities. So lets get it out of the way. USA Cycling sucks. Over and over again. Now lets move on...

I'm selling the stud of my stable.

The Storck has been the nicest bike I've ever owned. Heck, its the nicest thing I've ever owned. I've had her for two years and its time to move on. If any of the 20 people that read this are interested, let me know, it'd be nice to keep the Rebel in house.
I'll even ship to that guy in Portugal who reads my blog. Big ups to you buddy.

So what am I getting to replace the Storck? You'll have to wait my friends. It'll come stock out of the box, but it won't stay that way for long...

Draining the bucket

2006-12-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

No worries, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I've just been busy. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my off season...all 14 days of it. Except for the moodiness and yearning to ride more than two miles to work, I'd say its been pretty good.

The holidays were a whirlwind of visiting family and trying to see all the friends I could. It seemed like every meal was huge and I had to live up to my name and eat, eat, eat.
My parents are in town for some business and pleasure (its a good mix if you ask me). They have currently taken over the bike room. Ahem, the spare bedroom. They have taken a liking to hanging things off of my bikes.

Poor girls. I'm going to start a new thing. You stay over, you hang something off my bikes, we take a picture. It'll be your visual stamp and record you stayed.

I received my "FREE SAGER" bands. Lucky wanted to rock 'em for the cause. He's wicked upset about how Sager got screwed over. If you haven't gotten the 411 on Sager's USADA saga, read this.

You can see how tore up the Luckster is.

Murphy has made a stop by the metro Boston area....it's now cold and snowing and I start training again on Monday.

Have a good New Years, I know I will.

CX Nationals '06

2006-12-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've been searching for the past two days for the words to convey what my first Elite championship was all about.

Two days later and I still don't have the words for it.

I've been on the other side of the fence cheering on my favorite racers, but I've never lined up against the best of the best with a national championship on the line until Saturday.

The crowds were huge. Coming full steam into the barrier section the first lap was something I will always remember. It was so loud. It felt like there were 10,000 people screaming and all the cowbells had an "11" on the their amps.

Everyone was having a good day. People were absolutely flying. Myself included. It felt like we were those little white balls in the lottery, bouncing around inside the container but always in control and smooth. Pure mayhem from the outside, but a graceful dance inside the tape.

All the interesting characters that make Cyclo Cross crazy were on hand and in full force.

From a racers point of view, there were few sections that weren't lined with people making the option of backing off nil.

I have my best races when my head is clear. There is very little that I think about besides just giving everything that I have to the task at hand.

Racing changes people. The ID comes out. The nicest people off the bike become monsters on it.

I have lots of other pictures of the weekend here. A big thanks goes out Heather for taking amazing shots like this:

Also thanks to Christophe for taking pics (I stole some from you bra) and also this video:

Overall, I am quite happy with how things went. I'm still in awe of the sights, smells and feelings of the day. I was lapped by eventual race winner Ryan Trebon with two laps to go, but lasted long enough to be classified and finished 90th out of 133 crazed professional cyclists.

At this stage in the game, it feels good to race against racers of this caliber and hold my own. Its sad that my year is over when I'm still fired up to keep going, but I'm sure it will all translate into solid training in a few weeks.

Game on.

Jason Law # 1.

2006-12-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

It isn't a race day playlist without Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer.

Them other boys don't know how to act

2006-12-14T18:17:00.000-05:00

I'm so fired up and ready to go.

I've been feeling tired and clogged up all week. Something about sleeping 13+ hours last night hooked me up. Maybe I'm a little too in tune with my body, but it ceases to amaze. Had a fantastic spin with the Turkish Tornado today, complete with a cappuccino stop. Nothing too hard, just enough.

Wise man once told me, if your standing, find a way to sit. If your sitting, find a way to be horizontal.

I've even been able to get some quality time in with my masseuse.

Today was a good day on the business side of cycling as well. Things are coming together nicely. First we've gotta show those pro fellers what its all about. No pressure, just all fun.

Stay tuned.

Its like dat and ah.

2006-12-12T17:38:00.000-05:00

It's kinda sad really, just one last race. Overall the 2006 Cyclo-Cross campaign has been a fantastic one. Results weren't really there, but dang, I learned a lot and seemed not only hold on to the fitness that I had, but gain some more.

The Caster Cross' could have gone better (when can it not?) but I was able to blow all the cobwebs outtah my mottah and last longer in cross race than I have all year.

The amazement of the race came as Tim Johnson (one of the nation's top CX'ers and road racers) passed me. Being the gentleman that I am, I moved over and gave him the track. Being the gentleman that he is, he said "Thanks man, I appreciate it" (or something like that) I'm drooling allover myself, not really seeing straight and have a large amount of snot pouring out of my snoz. And he can talk. While winning the race by a large amount. Sigh, someday.

My new kicks came. They are as sweet as they look.

One of my favorite parts of giving my camera to my Heather is the amazing pics I get. (photo credits to her by the way!!)
Frankly during warm-ups I missed the dude wearing pink crocs.

I believe this one is for big G with love from Heather. He's rockin' the Vanilla.

This one is tops. Check out the kid on the left's face. I haven't shaved in two weeks, but I didn't think my legs looked that bad. Awesome shot.
Yea she knits, check out the cabling on these bad boys.

T minus 4 days

Happy Birthday To Me

2006-12-06T16:20:00.000-05:00

Check out what I got in my e-mail today:

Jason -

During a check of all registered riders I noted that, according to the DOB
you listed in BikeReg, you are currently registered a race that you are no
longer eligible for. Being a national event, the age requirements are different due to the selection process for worlds. I am moving you to the correct category, Elite Men, race time Saturday 200pm. You will keep your original registration time/start position.

If there are any other concerns please let me know.

Thank you for your cooperation. See you next week.

Meesha
Registration Coordinator

Granted, I turned 22 hours ago, but my racing age is still 22. He who wins Nationals gets to go to worlds. *If* I were to win, I'd get to go, but the race is in early 2007, and my racing age would be 23, to old by just days. So, I'm racing in the Pro ranks.

I'm going from a field of 46 to one of 130+.

On the day that registration opened, I completed my registration at 12:06, 6 minuets after it opened. I should have a kick ass starting spot.

Game on!

A Contest

2006-12-04T18:31:00.000-05:00

I tried to post this on Sunday when I had all these great stories filling my head. But the blog wasn't working right. So I tried again on Monday and messed everything up some more. Then this morning I messed up the pictures using the spell check.

So lets have a contest. You look at the pictures, make up a story. Leave that story in the comments. Best story will win a dope prize.

Trials Riders

2006-11-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of the NORBA National at Mount Snow is the
usual pack of trials riders. The leg destroying climbs and mind melting
single track leave you in a different place, making it nice to hunker
down and watch riders do things on two wheels that are simply amazing.
Often the difference between those who do well in a race and those who
don't depends on how smooth one can be in the nasty parts of the
course. Pure bike handling skills.That is what impresses me about the guys who are really good, they are as smooth as a hot knife through buttah. Its not who can throw themselves off the largest rock, its all very calculated and graceful.

We've been watching the new Kranked 6 movie at work. A lot. I'm always forced to stop dead in my tracks and watch Ryan Leech. He is amazing. (Turn your speakers on if you watch the viedos.)

That was the Ryan Leech of a few years ago...he's taken it to another level.

Quit Playing Games With My Heart

2006-11-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

I'm wearing my Camo Shorts again. Its really hard to dress for this stuff. I'm overly hot or frozen to the bone. Heather always makes fun of me because I'm an addict when it comes to checking the radar for rain and the thermometer. A man's gotta know what kind of high performance base layer he's going to wear.
With two familys to spread the time over, I found myself at not one but two Thanksgiving dinners. Heather's mom's is always nice, but the wide-open spaces of Grandma's house will alway hold a part of my heart.

My Cousin has a golf kart tricked out with a jacked suspension and off roadin' wheels. I'm pretty sure I showed him some stuff I shouldn't have...hopefully he won't get the kart taken away by Christmas because I've got some great ideas for pimping his ride. If I can't put spinners on my lady's Ecco, homeboy is getting hooked up.
I took the last week mostly off and the lights that were burning dimly in the twilight of the season have suddenly become bright. Game on. Funny how the body works like that.
Its a hard time of year to find your drive and have motivation in racing and training. Its the holidays and I want to over eat like every good American, the weather is finicky and I've been going since January. Also, I've begun working towards next season, setting everything up and formulating my goals. The excitement is killing me and I'm ready to to get going on the next set of objectives.

Such is life. Stay tuned.

Good bye my old friend

2006-11-21T13:55:00.000-05:00

The Indian summer is over. It was only last week that I was kickin' it in my camo shorts. Cold rides are here to stay. Bummer.

Haven't been doing any racing at all. Been doing lots of eating, getting ready for the big day. My form has seemed to go south with the birds as has my drive to race. I've done plenty of 2 and 3 hour drives for 40 minuets inside the tornado of pain and I think it is starting to get to me a little. There are about 5 more races on the calendar but I think I'm going to do one more and Nationals. I'm pretty sure that a tune-up race and the mental demands of Nationals will be more than enough to cure whatever urge I can muster up. Who really knows though, sometimes I'm like a light switch, and all systems are going again.

C-dale is all done. The pictures aren't loading all nice like, so we'll see how it looks on your end. Sram's new stuff is da bomb dot com. The shifting is positive, smooth and natural. The click of the shifter when your shifting sounds amazing too. Much better than the clunk of Campy and cheep sounding wine that comes out of Shimano.

Andy is tightening something on his bike. But how sweet is that jersey? Very sweet.
Happy Birthday big guy!

A big thanks goes out to Brent from Northwave for sponsoring me for the remainder of the Cross season and my up coming road and mountain bike campaigns. I feel honored to be given the opportunity to represent such a large company and sport some classy Italian shoes. Northwave's 2007 product line looks killer and I can't wait to break in my new kicks.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

This is just a test.

2006-11-13T09:44:00.000-05:00

I really like removing old bar tape. It shows you where you started. A little snippet of what life was . The line of dirt that shows you where you've been and all the good rides you've had. I got to go back home for the weekend. Mainly for more wedding stuff, but I was able to squeeze in a few good rides too.
Gotta love the fall time.
On a clear day you can see 50+ miles over my right shoulder. At night you can map out the towns just by the lights.

I'm testing a new toy. Its pretty sweet. I spent much of my rides finding my max and blowing myself up in the pure pursuit of science. I'm not at liberty to say what the new toy is because I've got a few different angles to work in getting this testing a permanent fixture on my handlebars. But I will say, for those in the know, the sixth sister on Gifford School House road is 17% and I put out 458 watts going up her.

Time to go train.....for Thanksgiving.

the ramble

2006-11-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

The blog is smelling a little stale and my legs are feeling great.....must be Thursday.
Not much to report. Training. Working. Thinking about riding. Reading about riding. Working on other peoples bikes so they can go riding. Training. LOTS of eating. The usual things.
I should be telling you about how well I did on Sunday, but with my mom looking on, I made love to the ground and erased my fantastic race. So, we move on, keep the good thoughts flowing and forget about what might have been.
I'm getting shafted in the fight for getting credit for the UCI points that I should have, but I'm starting not to care because I'm having so much fun.
I have been seeing a steady weekly improvement as I figure out how to race and my fitness gains. On the way home from the race on Saturday I actually thought to myself "I should start base in December." This is what happens when you feel like there is "no chain" on the bike. A few miles down the road I thought it'd be better to take the three weeks off after cross nats. Winter is a hard time to ride.
I went Mountain biking with Andy the other day. The ye'ol mtb has been hanging on the wall for a good month and a half. I kinda forgot how to ride off roads. It took a good 20 min before I was riding like I know I should. At one point there was a big rock-craggy thing that is pretty hard to get up on a great day. Andy was leading and slowed up as I (for some reason) thought that If I hit it with a ton of speed I'd magically get over. When my front tire planted firmly against the rock, my brain went blank and I hit the ground. Laughing of course.

One of my favorite Mtb's just was slapped with a one year suspension for missing a doping test. They usually have people standing on the finish line and grab the athletes picked for the random tests, but they didn't at this race. He's got to be one of the cleanest guys on knobby's and speaks out against the juice often. I doubt he'll read this, but Sager, I believe. You rock and roll.

It sucks that they can't catch the real dopers and stick it to the guys who are in the sport just for the love it.

Going back to New Paltz this weekend. I'm uber excited to ride my old dirt. Widowmaker, here I come.

Verge New England Series: Chainbiter 8.0

2006-11-05T08:32:00.000-05:00

It starts to feel a little more like 'cross season when you wake up, check the weather and see that it's 30 degrees outside.

'Cross season is also nice because I see so many people that I know. It makes warm-ups less stressful to be shooting the shit with people that I trade the paint with. I hear even more people yelling "go Jay" or "yea ATA!" I have no clue who some of you are, but its nice. Helps keeping me turning those legs over.
The start was the usual affair of me holding on for dear life. When I heard the dirt under my tires I started making moves and finding that when you force yourself into gaps that aren't really there, it suddenly opens up and you can snatch it off the market.
After a lap or so everything got gaped out and the business of hurt started for the day.
Going all out and trying to catch whoever had blown up and holding off the chasing dogs that were behind. Note to self, when the new jerseys are done, I gotta get a med. not a small.
When I passed a guy who was selected to the U23 mountain bike worlds team it gave me a bit more juice. Just not enough to fend off the hard charging leaders. Its a pretty hard pill to swallow when you see 184 beats per min on your heart rate monitor and the leaders are still closing in on you. Its a good reminder of who they are. Who you are and what it is your hear to do.

Devil wasn't willing to make a deal with me (I was praying for just one more lap.) I was passed and pulled with a few to go, but was "finished" with a lap down. Some how I finished 4th in the U23 race.
No clue where the podium was, but you can be assured, I'm not saving anything today.

Photo credits go to my man Christoph. Thanks for cheering me on and snaping the good shots.

Compton Cup

2006-10-31T17:15:00.000-05:00

I think this picture sums up my race.
I was inches from riding up the insanely steep run-up. But just not quite there. I was inches from not tripping over the first set of barriers on the first lap. The people who kindly ran over my hand and foot were inches from not riding on me. Switching over to metric, I was a nanometer from not having air leak out of my valve and give me a flat.
The thing about racing in New England is its a hot bed for Cycle Cross. Some of the best riders in the world have come from here. Because of that, podunk races such as the Compton Cup have racers of world class capabilities. It's right out of their front door too. This can make for some mentally and physically hard weekends.
It'll come together. Someday. When todays workout was over, all I could think about was tomorrows workout and whats on tap for the day after that. And how to pack in the most recovery between the points. Cycling takes time. You've got to take your licks, learn and go back and give'r the next weekend. Its all going to click, and when it does, it'll click big because each week I'm inches from making it all come together.

Keep it on the low

2006-10-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

Things have been slowing down at work with the weather turning cold and all, so I've had lots of thinking time. I've come up with the sweetest cross practice course. It's got everything: Sandy beach, long stair run up, hills, logs to bunny hop, and single track. The location will remain undisclosed and will now be known as "the spot"Just a few more parts and she'll be together.
I wonder when exactly guys starting calling their cars girls. You know the ladies didn't start calling their Cadies Betsy. Maybe it started with tractors or horses. I think one of my bikes is now going to be a man, just to keep things fair in the stable...I only have enough room in my heart for one woman....and my mom.

I've been on quite the quest lately to make everything better. From my position on the bike right down to my shoes. Thinking outside the box and over engineering .
We'll see how they work.
It looks like this weekend went from "Eh, one more weekend of no racing will be good for me" to "Dang, I gotta feed the addiction, whats that? A race just south of the city? Well whooo dang lets giv'er!"

Way to hide the evidence of my slacking off at work.

see:pictures.

Don't squash the Chickens

2006-10-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

All I want to do right now is ride. "Its like I have a sickness...and the only cure, is more riding..."
I did the unthinkable this week...

I'm down a road bike at the moment (awaiting parts from Easton and now my Sram Rival group.) So I mounted a water bottle cage, swapped some slicks on to a spare set of wheels and hit the road.

With no races for the next two weeks, I think I'm going to go a little crazy. I was a little burnt after the events of last weekend. Great race, not getting results for it, Getting sick, not racing the next day and still getting a result and not even racing. I don't know how it works.

The important thing is that confidence is up and form is getting good. My handling skills are only improving with each race as I catch the steep learning curve that is Elite racing.

Its all about the second half of the cross season.

Get outside people, the weather is slipping from us fast.

Random Things

2006-10-12T14:23:00.000-05:00

Here are a few random things from this weekend mainly because its Thursday and I'm still laughing about them.

-With the amount of water I drink everyday there are times when I feel like peeing is what I do all day. There was a guy in the start coral that must have had the same feelings. 10 min before we are let loose, he whips it out and pees in a nice puddle on the start line. Nah man, there aren't 70 guys behind you that have to ride in that....

-Being a UCI race, we were under the big people's law. Fines were handed out for rider's infractions and payable in none other than Swiss Francs.

-I was stopped a handful of times by random people that wanted to check out my bike. "oh, you got an 07! That's tight!" I just wasn't ready for that.

-Having a closed course to warm up on is so choice. You can take your time and dial in your lines, watch other riders and steal their lines.

Lastly, I was tooling around some different websites this morning looking to see how many UCI points I picked up this weekend and to try and get an idea how many zeros were in my UCI ranking....I didn't get any of that but, I found out that I'm the top ranked rider in Massachusetts and finished the NORBA National Series ranked 9th. I had no idea.

Stuff like that makes a win-less season more of a success.

And thats the way it goes.

USGP Gloucester Day 2

2006-10-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

Cross Hurts.

(You can click on the photos to see larger image)
Its a good hurt. The type of hurt that reminds you that you are alive.

Reminds you that you have lungs. And legs.

Cross hurts so much you can feel organs you had no idea where they were located. (See the snot hanging off my face?)

The good thing is that I didn't get beat by the Haitian National team

yea, he's rollin' it on a road bike.

The weather was amazing

And the legs were working quite well

Some how I was able to move up 22 places from day one and finish 68th/110. 15th in U23.....it's got me scratching my head wondering how that one worked out. But I'll take it.
Whats really crazy is racing when the sides of the course look like this:

Big ups to my crew on day two: Andy, Greeley (photo credits go to her) and the ever so lovely H bomb.

A big thanks goes out to those who cheered me on. I heard ya'll....not sure who was where, but the support was amazing.

New Glouccester next weekend for the start of the VERGE series. The iorny slays me.

USGP Gloucester Day 1

2006-10-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I've got my first pro start out of the way. Granted, I was racing U23 and was only really racing against 25 or so guys, starting in a pack of 110 riders can be somewhat hectic and add to the experience. Making it more enjoyable was the fact that I was toe'n the same start line with guys that I've been reading about in magazines since I was 14.

I brought a full crew. Complete with my mechanic (yea, I'm big time) His daughter and my biggest supporter, Heather (I think she was texting some of my other supporters about my blingin' socks.)

The race went ok. I wasn't nearly as aggressive as I should have been. I'm wasn't used to starting in a pack that large and putting my bike into real estate that really isn't real estate like some of the other riders were.
After getting behind a few crashes and having to pick my way around them slowly, I was shortly off the back.

The rest of the race was a long hurt fest. As I went from hurt bag to hurt grinder to hurt locker the laps clicked away. When I saw 4 laps to go I had a new sense of hope that maybe I'd make it through without being lapped. But that lap would be the lap that I saw the leaders come by me and it would be my last. Mr. UCI official put me out of my pain with 3 laps to go and 40min of racing under my belt.
I had no idea that I would be able to last that long.

The weather was pretty fantastic.

And so it goes. Cross season is officially started for me and as the weeks click by I'm more than sure I'll be impoving on my 90/110 placing and top 20 in the U23s.

Gloucester Day 2 tomorrow.

The waiting is the hardest part

2006-10-06T15:30:00.000-05:00

I think the worst part of racing is the waiting. Gloucester is tomorrow and I've been thinking about it for what seems like forever.
It's not even like I'm nervous or anything, I just want to race.
Go till I blow.

I've got lots of great support lined up. John (the wrench at the shop) is going to the race to be my pit guy. He's been tweaking my bike all week and its running great. I think Andy is going to be my wheel guy on Sunday and be at the race chillaxing. I've also got an in with the wrench in the Sram neutral support, if need be. Lastly we've let Adam Craig and Carl Decker (two of the paid guys rollin' it for Giant) use one of our work stands and two of our trainers. So I've been advised to keep my stuff at their tent and warm up with the big boys. We'll see how its all laid out. If we can park close enough to the start line, I think I may just do my own thing out the trunk of the Ecco.

I'm not nervous about the race at all. It's going to be great. crazy but great. The thing I'm more worried about is hitting my quota of race day duces. Each rider has a set amount of times that they have to drop shammy to have a great race. For some reason I'm more focused on that then anything else.

So be it. Tomorrow, I run with the bulls.

A Season by the numbers

2006-09-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

8 sets of tires
3 big rings
5 chains
3 cassettes
6 cable/housing changes
21 races
6 states
3 blown up egg beater pedals
1 blown up rear wheel
4 spokes
24oz of Stan's Tire sealent
5 pairs of brake pads

and thats just on the mountain bike.

My new whip

2006-09-26T18:14:00.000-05:00

With new seasons comes new races.
With new races sometimes come new bikes.

I've only gotten a few rides in on her but but she's fantastic.

Now its time to get my race on...