Core. These guys are core! They love the 'cross like [insert bad analogy here of a drunk loving his drink or other somesuch bad analogy].

Needless to say, the BSV homies love their hup and have poured their significant resources into a race of full huptitude. Get all these SICK amenities:

• -FREE Brats on the grill (donations will be accepted however, and ALL proceeds will go to Valmont Bike Park)
• -Solid prize list http://www.blueskyvelo.com/cx/prizelist.htm
• -Dale's Pale Ale "bunnyhop the barriers" contest
• -PRO neutral support in the double-sided pit courtesy of Mavic SSC
• -Dave Towle announcing the action from the "Tower of Towle" stage
• -various raffle/giveaways from our sponsors in the expo area.

Click on the image below for all the registration info you need! Pre-reg by the way is CHEAPER and FASTER!

I've talked about it quite a few times in previous posts, but the photographers who come out and capture the art we practice in the fall is absolutely spectacular. In Boulder, we're lucky to have Rob O'Dea who combines his extensive experience as a cyclist with when to exactly hit the shutter to catch those moments we feel as we pedal our machines through the muck and over the barriers. You've got to do it, to shoot it and Rob is one of those.

Rob sent me some of his SPECTACULAR pics from Saturday at Xilinx. Enjoy them as I have in a drop jawed manner. Contact Rob should you need any services and to keep track of his upcoming race events.

Watch this...

Gloucester Cyclocross Seat Cam from colin reuter on Vimeo.

You can cruise over to Mark Woolcott's site and check out some of the muddy action form the 35/4's, 35 Opens, 4's and 3's.

Dubba also cranked out a bunch of photos of the BCS folks and others. See 'em here or via the show below!

The weather as I mentioned earlier today provided the absolute, most sincerely awesome conditions for racing the 'cross. I swear to you that you had to rub your eyes to ensure you were not in some muddy field in Belgium. The BoulderRacing team put together such a spectacular course, I ended up calling almost all of my best buds methodically to ensure they had raced that day and hear how happy they were (as it was THAT obvious that the course was labored over). Let me talk a little bit about the course first, before the day...

• 1 fallen log dismount
• a triple dismount of sets of logs
• a set of run up double barriers
• a set of hot triple barriers
• deliciously technical wooded sections
• S-turned pavement sections
• and one full-on Belgie style muddy field with ridiculously sick laid out turns ranging from drag strip straights that caused beautiful rooster tails of mud spitting out the back when you got your Sven on to flow-y carving turns that needed you to ensure you fully dialed in your tires before you toed the line.

So to the race. Truthfully, as egotistical as it sounds, I woke up at 5:20 this AM swore to God I was going to win. The fact I've been devoid of quality training, been on the road this week and am spitting vinegar with angst these days only added to my fire. I didn't care who showed up. I just wanted to unleash something because I wanted to. The weather made me smile in a rather sinister way as I just about salivated thinking about the suffering that would take place.

After some hot laps, I dialed in my Dugasts at roughly 35-38 PSI (F/R). It was clearly a low(er) pressure kind of day as the course demanded absolute flow. You had to be upright today and not even necessarily fast all the time on this course...just precise and on TWO WHEELS all the time to keep your advantages in tact throughout the race. Tire pressure is that insurance system.

We lined up in a moderate field. I'd say 35 to 40. The weather was about 39 degrees and misty rain. Perfect. They did call ups...but not for ACA overall, but from Boulder Racing series overall...which I missed the first race of. So I lined up 2nd row specifically choosing Timmy and and told him sternly: "Homes, just drill the start." I gut a definitive "Yup" in response. I didn't know a lot of the dudes being called up and was sketched as the usual suspects in the front know each other so specifically, we are fluid and safe.

In the line up today, I had what I'd never had before...teammates! PLURAL! And this would be a decisive factor today for our placings. Me, Pete Webber and Brian Hludinski. of Boulder Cycle Sport.

"GO!" says the ACA official and we are off. Timmy as promised punched a hole and in 50 meters I went from back 20 to top 4. Perfect. THANK YOU MAN. We got into the woods first and as we were concerned, a guy we'd never seen before comes barreling in and NASCARs with Timmy and trades paint. Classic. We are all typically so fluid that this was tough to stomach. So with Timmy to the side, I literally did a run through the initial technical sections to get past this guy and set up shop to control him and things. By the time we were out of the technical section and on teh pavement, we'd already got a split of the top 10. NASCAR guy is still in the midst as we barrel down into the muddy fields. It's at this moment I give a 'huh'? He slows down considerably so I yell at the guy to 'UP THE PACE!' I come around him and drop the anvil, flow through the barriers and get back onto the pavement with people shouting at me '20 seconds!' I guess I have a gap.

Flowing into Lap 2, Tim, JJ Clark of Spike Shooter, Jeff Wardell of Excel Sports and my team mate Pete Webber bridge up. Pete launches this attack and I smile as I finally get to sit in. I lamely attempt to block....just slow down a bit...and the 3 come by me. We flow and JJ races hard to bridge to the attacking Webber with Timmy and Jeff in tow and I snap and decide I need to conserve.

By the closing minutes I am still feeling good and trying to up the pace to catch Tim and crew. Webber, my bro, has the worlds worst moment and flats and requires a bike change. He was destined for the W I am certain. At about this time, my OTHER team mat (I can;t believe I have team mates!) Brian Hludzinski bridges up. We work hard lap after lap trading tempo on various parts of the course. Throwing it down. We can see that Brian Maslach of Spike Shooter is coming on us like a freight train in the last lap. I make the call and just throw it down and Brian blocks. I come in in 5th about 30-45 seconds behind the top 4 with a sprint shoot out between the Brians behind me.

Awesome race. Just awesome. Truthfully, I was so in the zone of thinking THIS IS CROSS!!! while I was racing I probably could have placed better! HA! It was just so perfect...the weather..the course...teammates in the mix. I felt....well, I felt at home in some weird way. Not i=one slip today. Technically perfect. Maybe every so slightly cleaner through certain sections but sincerely no complaints. Just more power needed to bridge and stay connected.

More race photos are on their way courtesy of Mark Wollcott Photography who was out there with his SLR's firing strobes like machine guns. But my good bud and fellow Valmont Bike Park advocate Zach Lee captured some awesome pics of the course! Enjoy his digital celluloid!

'Cross on...

Race Fans!! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!! Click the image below at a 7:30AM PST, 8:30AM MST, 10:30 EST and get the live streaming goodness of Sven and Co throwing down at Ruddervoorde.

OK, first, apologies for the lack of posts. As it's often said in my broken record kind of way: I've been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest these days. More travel this week combined with deliverables and my lady who's out of town rocking out to Billy Idol at her 20th HS reunion...well, you can see there hasn't been much time to think about the 'cross.

But it's always present, sports fans.

Xilinx today. And the weather is EPIC. 34 degrees and a steady rain as I type this. It's going to be a Flahute-y kind of day...which I relish. Just a bit different than the 66 and Sunny KP and the hoards will be having in Gloucester today.

So, it's mid October and things are going OK this season...unbelievably given the complete lack of training in my engine. I am now under the....

Cross. It's that inner something...the voice or motivation or whatever it is....that is keeping me authentic when so many I am surrounded by in my daily life are becoming sheepish, twisted bastardizations of themselves or attempting to project themselves as some God-awful cliche'ed character even a movie couldn't dream up. They need a Flahute experience. On second thought, let's keep the Flahute our little secret, right?

There is nothing more to say as far as I am concerned. It's here. Cross is here and is popping up in corners of our country that less than 3 years ago, wouldn't know a cross from a cross-walk. It's assuming control! The genius of the sport has reached critical mass: its shortness yet its epic-ness. Its attraction for the workin' (wo)man...less training, more fun, being competitive, family and friends seeing you muddy and filthy every 7 minutes or so each lap. The radness of the equipment. It's all a cocktail of beauty for the cyclist.

It's all coming to a head.

Exhibits A:
Alpenrose had 1267 racers this weekend per my main honkey Chris DiStefano this weekend out in Portland. And clearly, this is an age old hub of cross, but the numbers are out of hand. Holy absolute CRAP! Something has been added to the PDX water system for that many disciples. Grab some eye candy of the spectacle here....

Exhibit B:
My friend Blair Oxford from the South East in the epically beautiful and funky town of Savannah GA have announced their upcoming cross race, the Superprestige! Part of the Georgia Cross series. And yes, the course features ALL of my 'gotta haves'...barriers, sand traps and YES, a FLYOVER!

See their picture collection here. Amazing. I'm gonna have to go and race that thing one of these days! PDX races have featured a flyover recently too. Man, Boulder/Denver needs to GET CREATIVE!

Amazing for me to see this growth. Louisville KY, we want to see some pics from your growth! I'm hearing all kinds of stories, but no joy on teh visual tip! Send me pics!

You're going to bingo me this week as I have no race photos to share. Some weeks it's just hard to get it all together....including handing a camera to someone, teach them how to use it and beg them to shoot pics and vid. So, you get text from me!

This weekend was part of the ACA's BCR or Best All-round Cyclocross Racer Series. Both days were points days at the same location...at the Nordic Center at Frisco CO. All 9,100 feet of it. And yes, Even living at 5,600, feet....9K hurts. Sickeningly.

Driving up...oh God...it's Fall. Foliage in New England is absolutely impressive, but Fall at elevation when the Aspens are exploding crates a phenomenon that can literally blind you...like snow blindness it seems, in the right light. It is incredible and this was the condition we raced in.

Day I:
Howyousay: ouch. I rant enough but I'll just sample here now. I had a max of 1:25 training this week. yee haw! Then the good-man's travel. The stress peaked on Friday evening and allowed very little sleep. But come Saturday, Pete Webber and I rolled up to Frisco and got our cross game on. Sleep? Who needs it? (apparently I do). The course at the Nordic Center was 'good'...if not a bit jungle-y. I love technical but this one included some fairly prolific road climbs and a difficult transition into a decimated hillside run up. Rhythm was hard to find on the day. Pete and I got there at the nick of time and while he had the warm up, I had to dick around with changing out carbon pads...and got exactly 3/4ths of a lap in before having to line up. I somehow got the call up again and waited for the count down. I am sitting there, thinking, "...this isn't going to be good....". And so, it would play itself out that way. SUPER long story short: I played wheel sucking loser and had no gas. I intentionally let the hole shot go...literally pushing Jeff Wardell with my hand to go and grab it as I just knew the day was not meant for me to be aggressive. Mark Legg had a great day motoring up front and while I tried some lame attacks, I mentally and physically settled for 12th. Each lap, the barriers and run up, while awkward, felt fine....but the body felt absolutely horrible. Like a flu even though I was absolutely healthy. I was in a group of guys from the gun including some Spike boys, Matty Opp, Pat Gallegos, and others. Lap after lap we traded attacks but we'd immediately re group. The moment I'd stand up to get on it, I'd have to sit down. At one point, after a last lap attack to try and shake this group of 5, I got dizzy and almost yardsaled in a moment of pass-out dizziness...sickening feelings waving through my body. Altitude? I've raced here PLENTY of times and in fact have excelled at elevation. But who knows. Maybe it was the wussyfluenza. A nasty case of the whimps. 12th. I am alive and healthy, right? Webber crushed it by the way...taking 2nd...all the while looking back for his anemic team mate who could never have bridged even if I grabbed a dose of EPO in the pits. Badness.

Day 2:
After a night of talking and laughing over dinner and some beers at our house with Webber and his family, I made the decision that I'd go for Day 2. So, I burned more fossil fuels to get back up there to Frisco. I was solo today in the elite masters as Webber had plans today. I made SURE I got there to pre ride!

Before I left, I did my AM ritual: coffee, b-fast, poop. the last part of that process was interesting to say the least as my whole body did not feel right. The drive up was clearly crescendo-ing with another round of what I'd been horrified with earlier. I tear into the parking lot and about crash my station wagon into the port-o. I debated leaving the engine running as the timing of turning the key off would be too much. Needless to say, I thanked GOD that the plastic haven was free of humans and I barged in, locked'er up and proceeded to get sick again. Not good.

I decide that I am definitively empty in the nether regions and in the safe zone even though things are sort of turned in on themselves. I must race. And so I don the kit, and FINALLY get a good warm up in. The bowels are staying dormant but more importantly, the legs feel light and springy. Whoa. Good times. The warm up also proved how AWESOME the course was today! Like a literal page out of Belgium plus 9000 feet. Tim and the gang who created the course made the perfect balance of flow, technical, efforts and recovery. Perfect. There was one set of triple barriers, one 180/off camber barrier, flowy trails, high speed fire road and a great set of 180 in and out sections to slow you down and ensure your smoothness and power out of the corners. SICK course.

I again do not want to be out front with a hole shot BUT I know that i need to be in the top 5 or so to get into the woods first. Timmy F, Mark Legg and a few others were present and were on their game as was made evident yesterday. The plan was to feel complete and make it 100% smooth. I think I succeeded. I let Mark Legg and Tim with a Spike guy take the hole shot and I sat in. For 3 laps I monitored and just decided to stay in proximity which again was the goal. I would gauge my efforts by my distance to these guys but the micro efforts they put out (frequently) start to shatter me...which shows me exactly what I have to work on. Or, get more than an hour of training in per week. HA!. Fast forward, I was over taken by my bud and National MTB Marathon Champ Mike Hogan and another Co Motion Sports guy in the 2nd to last lap. So be it. I ended up 6th but had plenty in the legs....and probably should have been a bit smarter about so easily giving up a spot in the 2nd to last lap thinking I will get around it. It's game on at that time and I knew that! Everyone is so equally balanced, it's hard to get a single place back that late in the race and I let them take it. No more gifts next time!

So one crap day followed by a day where I felt like a bike racer again. I'll take it. I'm alive and breathing.

More work travel this week so no Wednesday Worlds again. Will try to get in some of the hup hup where I can. It's my passion that carries me through these races. Nothing else. The sheer joy for being in the golden aspens ensuring I am fluid lap after lap after lap. Oh, to again raise my hands some day. Wishing. Need to work.

Photo of the sexy Dan Farrell of Blue Sky Velo on day 1 of Frisco 2008 can be found here.