Unbelievable photo caught by Rupert Berrington. Please visit his gallery and I thank him in advance for using this photo here with his copyright info.

Why is the photo meaningful. If you know this team mate of mine, you'd be smiling. This is a microcosm of Couch in action. Selfless.

1) He organizes the races RM puts on and has dedicated himself to the ACA for years.
2) He wholly manages the RM-Izze Womans team, growing it into a group of talented ladies who embody team spirit. He'll say adios to the guys on his well earned Saturday ride as they go off on their ride so he can stay with and mentor/clinic/coach the women on skills.
3) He works for his teammates continually. And it's here in this shot that it became obvious to me...having just given the wheel off his brand new Specialized to a team mate at the Kopp.

Rock on Couch. We need to bottle you up somehow. This is the shit that should make people get up in the morning to try and emulate.

Kelly NEEQuette showed me this little web based gem today.

I'm trying to get the embed-able Javascript to work to host this in my blog but here's the link:

Joe P from PelotonPhoto has posted some great images from the Kopp. I am bummed I missed it! This pic is insane knowing what it is like scrambling up that hill on the first lap. It quickly strings out after.

For my team mates: BUY PICTURES. Help support Joe.
Boulder Roubaix this weekend. Weather will be Belgium like (48 degrees and rainy) although Weather Dot Com changes its mind hourly.

I am realizing that as cool as my small mind makes me believe I am, I am merely the second coming of Elmer Fudd. I am sick again, getting better, but in need of a wittle west and weewaxashun. I worked very hard last week to prep for Sunday only to be wiped out again with a stomach virus which my little boy is still reeling from. Honestly, I just need to get Zen and remember how and precisely where I need to set expectations as an athlete in the realm of precisely WHO I am: Daddy, husband, worker bee. I need to check the psychotic-ness at the door and remember Elmer Fudd and laugh a bit. Newcastle Nut Browns help too.

On another note, it was rad to see my boy Matt Opp in Velonews. He's JHK's lead mechanic and a great friend. This is the guy who built all my CX bikes and wheels and for the length of a season would never require a wrench or truing tool. Sick mechanic. Surgical. His details on his builds are personal from bar tape to cable routing. As a CX-er, he's got the nuances down as well. My Hugi/Open Pro Ceramics he built have never been trued.

More importantly, Matt is a slut for the white gloves and apparel so we get all giddy for this crap.

Anywhoo, gotta get better and stronger this week for Boulder Roubaix.

(Opp and JHK photo courtesy of VeloNews)

This is a rad trailer for a new movie coming out abut 24 hour endurance racing. Lots of Boulderites in here which is fairly cool. The trailer is sick. Does not make me want to run out and hallucinate in a 24 marathon on my MTB.

Ah, Friday must be here. Life is tough these days and trying to find the Zen in balancing being a great husband, a great dad, a fair to OK cyclist, a great worker bee is tough. It can crack the brain a bit. This whole Belgium thing keeps me focused. Laser guided. It helps me be better all around and generally happier that over the horizon is something special to get me through the tough days.

Every Friday at 9AM MST, I give myself a little reminder. Even when I am in the zone at work, blood pressure raised and general chaos ensuing while managing a big part of the business I work for, this little pop up makes me smile and settles the soul.
I got this idea from Ken's blog. Note the profile. I'm not here to be all touchy feely, but when the shit hits the fan in life, it helps to have a focus point and writing down what you want and reading it often reminds the soul to correct its course toward it.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

You are now enlighted.

I love the fact that my 2nd most viewed nation of Mud and Cowbells is Belgium. I'll need to start translating this into Flemish!

If you have not seen this guy's blog, please do. This guy keeps me in stitches. He's either got mad time on his hands or his site is an uber-passion. I constantly laugh because of the nuances that only a true bike geek can get a cross. I am a also happy to see someone who has the gift of articulation, not just dribble, and he's got crap to talk about in spades.

Check out the post on Matt Kelly from Poprad in '99. Awesome.

Ah the warmth of the sun over the last few weeks. Shorts on and the reactivation of my pathetic Belgian tans coming right back after a few long road rides....only to be a teaser. The classic Boulder pattern is back. snow's came back today with 30 degree weather. This'll snowfall and the forthcoming weather will make it nice and crappy for Sunday at the Kopp. I'm going to bring the cross bike. It's got no business being a in a road race with teh 42 x 12/25 but I am not motivated to f up my road bike in what will be a mud bath.

Finally got through the Red Zinger/Coors Classic DVDs. It is rad to see Boulder in the 70's and 80's and I am training on all those epic courses. Sortof looks the same which is cool. I do not think there was a cooler time to be a cyclist. These guys were the sub culture of sub cultures with a boat load of style. If you haven;t checked out these DVD's, you have to.

The Koppenberg was reccon'd today. Sorry, no pics. I need to get me a camera phone. Anywhoo, for those of you racing this weekend and are interested, this was my observation to the team this AM after the recon:

The net:net on the course: It B-L-O-W-S

What you all want to hear about is the dirt. So here goes:

• The front section of dirt is perfect. No issues. Same as always with flat smooth surfaces and little need to find lines.
• Making the first left apex the section to the wooden bridge is fair with some potting and dried up tracks from trucks. Line selection here becomes more interesting.
• Over the wooden bridge and past the apex by the tree, still fair.
• The run in to the Kopp gets shittier. It is here that construction trucks have done their damage haven made erratic turns etc when muddy and now it is dry. Line selection key (if you can find the lines).
• The Kopp: Horrible. The initial turn up the Kopp now has a nice new ‘feature’: A rain gulch. About a 1.5 feet wide chasm that you can wheelie through if you are good at that.
• The Kopp climb itself is in fairly crappy condition. Certainly not like in years past where it has been fairly OK with good lines up the right and left. When we were there this AM, we did a run up first which was crappy but ride able. By our 2^nd pass, a road grater showed up and started to do some nice damage. Overturning ruts (while trying to smooth them) that actually made things muddier.

With the rains this Thursday and Friday, this is going to be a mess folks IMHO.