Brief report. I awoke to the alarming blare of cell phone ringing obscenely early. I pick it up. An snippy automated voice says: "Hello. Your flight is canceled. Goodbye. Click." Or something like that. At that moment, if you took this:

And placed it in a certain body cavity, the stress at that moment would have baked this in 2.5. seconds:

Quickly getting on the United 1K Bat Phone, I spoke to a great lady who got Dubba and I all squared away.

Folks, it's on. It's moments of happiness like this that I like to sing my favorite song in situations like this.

Kisses from the road.

...or they'll never know just exactly how much of a chump this guy really is! I am sitting here FLOORED by what my co-workers assembled for me and I'll never forget it. This week is our company's annual kick off. It's the first one in 10 years I have not attended to help rally the troops. To set the stage for you when you watch the YouTube, in all honestly, I've got me some big ass hair. OK, I admit it. The entire company got their hair on for me in support of this whole crazy adventure I'm on. Beeatches.

My Embarcadero people (and Shana and Greg D, I know you were behind this!!): I love you and thank you. Now seriously realize, I am a hack....HA! But I'll take down a Belgie or two for ya while throwing down hard! They'll never take me alive!

I truly am the luckiest man in the world.

Place: Za Reepoobleek, Coloradee

My friends: It is on. I can't wipe the smile off my face.

So I roll out of bed, get the kids squared away for school and finally sit down in front of the PC to get some morning work done. I get through my work mail and fire up weather dot com. Ah. So it's January in Belgium...
So, i got my sweats on, a pair of surgical gloves, and got to it: za packing. All said and done, 20 minutes with the Tr-All case!

Some tips with the Tri All:

• Buy some foam insulation for your frame tubes and other key areas you are worried about like side impact near brake arms. Throw this on any and all places where you may think there is going to be contact against your frame and bits.
  
• Get some Gorilla Glue as you may need to break off and re-position the foam blocks which support the bottom bracket area.
  
• Keep a bit of air pressure in the tires to allow the lid to close tight and keep everything compact.
  
• Put all your supplies (tools, lubes, etc) in clear plastic bags. When the TSA rip through this, you can save them some time by allowing them to quickly scan. Also, make it accessible so they do not have to reach down.
  
• Have small hands: in all sincerity, it was a bitch to get in there and secure the fork skewer mounts at the very bottom of the box. I finally got it but it was probably the hardest part of the packing!

So here we go folks. The epic hath begun. I'll report in daily if humanly possible and likely it will given our house has za wi-fi. Stay tuned!

It's late. I must not be seeing straight. Is Mini-Sven actually as PRO as he appears? Holy GOD check out the Joe Namath's! If you get your hands on one of the early season 07/08 DVD's (I forget which one...maybe Koksijde? I will have to re-watch) but they have some pre-race video of Mini-Sven with a circle of people surrounding him as he sports a replica of his dad's UCI leader's kit and he's performing the most fluid dismount/remounts...Sven Van-t style (southpaw). Sick.
I will clearly have to continue the 5AM daily 'cross drills with my boys. It's clear the competition is good. Damn good.

"But daddy, it's cold outside and there's no light"

"Shut up kid and drink your Chimay and get out there. Hup hup, now. Hup hup."

So the TRP Carbons have been set up and ready to go. Due to the time constraints of working and trying to prep for the trip, Mike and Dwayne and Boulder Cycle Sport got these on and ready for me in a day. After the trip, I plan on disassembling then re-mounting to see how easy they are but there is truly NOTHING to the install. Just slide on the posts, set the tension spring pin win the guide hole and tighten down to the correct torque.

I did however personally swap out the aluminum pads for the carbon pads and got a chance to pre-ride them albeit briefly. They are nice and gummy, the way I like them with little to no chirp/chatter or squeal against the FSA 488's surface. The previous pads used (SwissStop yellow carbon compound) were similar albeit not as smooth as the cork pads the TRP's come with.

The brief pre-ride proved that the pads and the arms (along with the killer set up the BCS boys provided) allowed for really nice/gradual modulation the way I prefer it. I don't want grabbiness at teh beginning of the stroke...only when I really pull those levers to the bar. That's what they felt like. We'll see how they work when I get some holy mud and gunk on them!

The TRP EuroX Carbons

The steed ready for boxing-up then battle.

In a bit of a dilemma. This is the problem space I am dealing with:
Oh, and I need to squeeze in my street clothes. D'oh! Now, I need to quit my over thinking, pare down, and take what I need. At this point I have two of everything:

• Two Rock Lobsters in a Tri All case
  
• Two sets of wheels in a Tri All wheel case
  
• Various small tools
• Helmet
• Two sets of Oakleys
  
• Two sets of shoes (OK, 3)
• Two sets of gloves (OK 4)
• Two sets of leg warmers
• Two sets of base layers
• Two different kinds of leg oils
• Two different kind of knit caps and cycling caps
• Three skin suits
• Two cold weather jackets
• Two light weather jackets
• Two rain jackets
• Over pants for the wet and muddy pre-rides
• A week's wort of street clothes
• Beauty aids including bubble bath and my rubber ducky
  
• Computer and camera for blogilicious reports from the motherland
  
• EU Power Adapter
• Maps and books

So last week I spoke of my lust for the new carbon braking goodness TRP is set to bring to us at effective price points and insanely low weights. My good friends at TRP want me to help prove what's in their pudding by racing these bad boys in the Belgium pudding (mud) on my upcoming trip and sent on a set of their Euro Carbon Pro's. I will baptize them accordingly....likely married to my set of FSA-488 Carbon rims. I'm scrambling to get things packed and organized but will report in upcoming days on installation, use, care, etc.

Thank you Lance and TRP!!

'cross on.

8 feet in Tahoe. Holy crap. All that powder and none of mi compodres will be make it up the 80 or 50 to even enjoy it. A million people without power. D'oh!

I say this because THIS is the exact tip of that storm coming in over the Flat Irons:I got out today on one of my final prep rides to get some openers in. I am trying out that Freddy's XTra as well. Holy crap. As I type this my legs are on fire. Swung by the Boulder Res and got in some hot laps on the sand, to get all Mol'd and what not. Felt super good and powered through. I feel like I did in September. I got in just enough to open and feel confident that the fire is still burning and get that taste again of butt-in-seat power to drive through deep sand lap after lap.

On the way back, I got all Kerkove-style with the camera.

My best Jeff K impersonation.

Colorado pavement
Impersonation 2. Could be a Sager though.

Point and shoot

The sizzling is starting from the Freddy's but I can not feel it yet

Stoic. Or: How many k's back to the house? The coffee just presented it self to my chamois. Hello chamois.

T-minus a couple-a days and we're on the aluminum tube over to the Motherland. THEN, I'll have some new stuff for you all to read. Sorry for the lead up dribble.

So at this point, I am doing some touch up. Whatever work I've put in is in and that is that. I've definitely put everything I could given the balance I have got to maintain into this trip in terms of body prep so all that is left is dodging this light cold I have (nothing big) and doing some tuning this week with prescribed intervals designed to keep the channels open in za muscles.

Changing subjects, I just want to say THANK YOU to all my homies. Honestly, the emails and shouts of encouragement are truly special. At the end of the day, I'm not deploying to Iraq. But it feels like it! If you lessen the degree of severity to the scale I am venturing on (a 'cross vacation), there is still a sense of 'man, give 'em hell' when I speak to true 'crossers. It is like going to battle, gladiator style. Here's where I am at with all this:

• We've chosen a sport (cycling) that is by its very nature hard and inherently self-weeding of non motivated people.
  
• The specific part of the sport we've poured our passion into ('cross) is probably most prohibitive...even for long time racers...given the extremity of it all: conditions, intensity, aestheticism/technique. The shit's hard, yo. I can't believe I've maintained fitness and motivation since August. I do NOT want to stop!
  
• We participate in this discipline and it gets us so close to PRO....more than any other sport. As an example, Fred, the local softball 3rd baseman from the East 53rd Street McSorley's Irish Pub team is likely not going to escalate his skills up the 'series' ladder to compete against the best on earth. Frankly he can't. The escalation doesn't exist. Cross can give us that. Look at our homies over there new throwing down in the Super Prestige and GVA's. Many of you race against them/with them weekend in and out in Portland, Seattle, Boulder, Boston....It is that exciting.
  

I look at this picture Jon C sent to me to stoke me up. Open this bad boy up and look at it.
This is the face of a man saying "Holy shit. I just won the hole shot at the Master's World's." I love it. It's these sort of stoke ups from Jon, Mark Howland, Will Black, Brandon, Boups, Bobby Noyes....and boat loads of other folks....that again, make may hair stand up.

I will report. You will be stoked. You will come to the Motherland next year and get it on.

Start saying it. Write it down, print it out, and hang it up (or set an Outlook reminder, worker bees) and it will come true.

Ya-f-ing HOO.