OK, in the last 24 hours, I've had my fill of the pow pow. We made it up Berthoud Pass Friday and back down it yesterday for a trip up to Winter Park for a school related thing for my big guy. Volvo power. There is no substitute. Love that grocery-getter.

Today. Lyons f-ing CO, hombres and hombrettes. Home of the States as mentioned in previous posts. I just looked out the wondow. 4.5" of the white stuff and coming down. It's going to be EPIC and I am amped! Ha! This is gonna be a full on St. Wendel...

I've got the new Verge uber-warm skin suit ready for today and some Freddy's Extra. Bags on the feet and blue latex gloves under the other layers. I'm wondering who's gonna not be able to make it! The roads are shite. Today reminds me of one of the first races I did here in CO. It was a BoulderRacing event (like today's) so I am sure Brian H knows the drill.
That race, I had NOTHING in terms of cold weather gear. Crappy Defeet knit gloves, basic base layer stuff and essentially a set of slicks/fast course tires on. Awesome stupidity. Since then, I've raced in lots and lots of snow, so for me it's just another day at the office.

This is it folks! No Nats for me as I cashed in the majority of my daddy/husband points for Belgium. Wiser choice me thinks. More later once I get through with the Battle of the Bulge today in Lyons.

By now, cross hoars, you've read every character and examined every pixel of this CyclingNews article on Nys' C50.

But holy crap on a stick. I'm gonna kick the ass of Sven's mechanic for the bunk job he did on his tape when I gets to Belgie! I mean Mourey's crappy tape job is one thing, but how could the Cannibal be let out on the parcours with this! For shame.

Some of the images Matty Opp snapped from Wednesdays World Championships...

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Belgium, baby. T-minus ~1 month and counting. Holy crap.

I am pumped to announce that my partners in crime for this epic adventure are Mr. Kurt Perham, fellow Master A racer and coach extraordinare...

Photo copyright to FASTshots.

This is going to be epic....and will be...

blogged.

The 2nd to last Wednesday Worlds went down today in balmy weather out here in the Ree-poo-bleek and I'll report it later. Matty Opp took the pics today and I'm waiting on them! (hint hint, Matt!)

Coming up: Coloardo State Championships. Now, for non-Coloradans, you'll be interested to know that there are two State Championships. The USCF States (a.k.a. the 'Durango States') and the ROTS* Championships. Weird, but we all know what the real one is. Ha! The course shockingly will not be at Xilinx this year (as it always/traditionally is...I'll have to get the scoop as I love that course and its bunny hop-able ditch). This year, it is in Lyons CO....just North of Boulder in a new park. I'll be reconning this but I hear it's grassy and flat.

I'm feeling better and better since last weekend and today showed good signs. All I know is that the work is in and the head feels happy. I want to finish up strong as I can and move on into some training before Belgie.
Photo by Jason Rice

*ROTS: Rest of the State Championships.

Back in May, I started za plan. On that very first day, I installed a brand new set of bomber Ritchey Fortress training tires. Yesterday, I finally retired those puppies before they explode on a 50mph descent. I held these things in my hand for a bit sitting in my garage, late at night, after Boups swung by with beers in tow.

This led me to thinking...

Anything can happen. You can not stop what is coming....and what is coming, good or bad, is absolutely equivalent to what you set in motion in the universe, years, months, days....even seconds before.

Balance and forethought.

I'm a little worn out. Not unlike that Fortress' tread. I've ranted enough over the last moths about this. It is what it is. But, I'm happy to say I'm getting signals back from the universe that things will be OK. The conversations last night with old friends were life changing. Words were spoken, words were heard...but the words were carefully listened to.

Note the difference.

Today, for instance, was the first time in many many many months that I woke up with a smile. It was totally noticeable to me. I sprang out of bed. This is in opposition to most mornings when I feel a ghost fever, my eyes crack open and the first blurry sights they see are of my night stand and a BlackBerry's red light spastically blinking...remind me that Groundhog's Day is about to replay itself.

None of this has to do with bikes. Everything I speak of however, will have an effect in biking, how I father, how I love, the type of friend I can be, the level of depth I need to be at as a professional. Obviously not in any particular order. A universal and holistic wrapper that has re-cased my brain from the eroding cancer to absolute hope. God that feels good.

Validation.
Inspiration.
Contemplation.
Reflection.....

Tired of me yet? I am not apologizing. Dig deep into your own condition. Your own situation. Your own motivation.

I am doing what I can to correct and find it. I think I opened my eyes to something that is not blinking red.

Beer alert! Beer alert!

Oh dear, I think I've found perfection in a bottle. The Maredsous 8 Dubbel. God. Monks. History. Tradition. Beer. I love their slogan.

Anywhoo, the 8 Dubble is like a mouth orgasm so it must be sampled by you, the Belgian wannabe crosser. Like me.

So, imagine I had an IM chat with the devil last week.....

Handsome_Devil: GK You there?

Cross_Dork: Hold on HD. On a con call.

Handsome_Devil: NP. While you're on mute playing biz dev fool, think about racing this weekend.

Cross_Dork: Dude, WTF?! I'm sicker than a mo fo!

Handsome_Devil: You are such a galactic _ _ssy!

Cross_Dork: Seriously, STFU. I am sick!

Handsome_Devil: P _ SSY!

Cross_Dork: What f-ing ever. Will you be there?

Handsome_Devil: Cross is for _ussies. Oh wait. You cross, right? Therefore...

Cross_Dork: SIUYA, HD. I'll be there.

Handsome_Devil: Yes you will, GK, yes, you will. Boo wah ah ah ah ah!

And so it went folks, against all instincts, the devil made me do it. I have had mad flu with awesome ear infection and a hack since Wednesday. The only cure: more cowbell. All in all, a decent day which I can not complain about. More on that later...

Today's ACA action took place at Bear Creek Lake Park in lovely Golden (or maybe Morrison). Home of Coors and Yeti. Sweet. The course was absolutely the most fun yet this season...where fun is relative to the mountain biker's fun meter. Today featured lots of rollers, awesome single track, a bunny hop-able barrier (with another set of boards on the other side run up) and well timed sand traps. It was a fun fun course. The day started up in The Republic with 20 degree weather, 70 mph winds and sheets of ice on the street. The 50 minute drive due south was 10-20 degrees warmer with beautiful sun and zero win.d.

I got there and pre-road and loved it. Even with a fever, I was smiling....and could care about placing. I needed to be out there (again, the devil made me do it). The 35 Opens today was not a humongous field. Probably 20+ riders with most of the usual suspects in tow. I lined up 2nd row. Gun went off and we shot up a paved hill and nearly immediately on to the first sand trap. The sand trap exit was also the finish line so either the course designers knew it was going to be a clear winner in each cat or for sure they are sadists and wanted a running sprint through the sand side by side across the line. The sand was not ridable as it was super deep and dog legged sharply.

By the 2nd and 3rd laps I am rolling OK with Jeff W, Jeff H and Jared S. All is good in the hood. I figured it would stay this way. We went around a few laps together and I'd take them on the run ups and through the barriers and put more distance on them through the bunny hop barrier, but I had no depth in leg speed to keep the gaps I'd open due to the flu. So they'd bridge back to me each time. And so those antics went on like that for a few laps until my rubber band finally broke and I had to let them go and I spun alone. By the 2nd to last lap, this guy was coming on hard from behind. After knowing how I felt on the run ups, I let this guy bridge to me as we went through the sand trap and past the ACA officials counting riders....and when he made contact, I sat up. I let this poor guy pull me all the way around the course on the bell lap until the barriered run up and then I just had to drop that dude (sorry man!....but, uh, not so sorry). I flew up the run up Wellens style, re mounted and the gap I put in was too much for him so I rolled in nice and easy over the line. Took 9th. Some points earned which is cool but more happier just to have raced. Up yours devil.

After my race, I sat with Matty O while he warmed up. We watched rider after rider in the 4's try to bunny hop that barrier and some of the most horrific face plants I've ever seen occurred. I SHOULD HAVE had my camera out to tape that sheeit and YouTubed it. But alas, you get nothing. Matt and I watched AC have what should have been a break through race but home boy rolled a Dugast after some foolio took him out so I had to help him swap bikes. Luckily I had my spare in the pit so I threw on my wheel for him and he finished up the race. AC, you were going to punch a hole in that race today boy! You looked great. Pound for pound, in all sincerity, you had the best form bar none. Even the leader who had some leg speed had no form near yours. You are hard Belgian.

So while he's warming up, I told Matt that he was for sure going to win the 3's today and he should just accept it. He says, "Ya think?" I says, "Yup."And so it came to be. Matty O laid the wood down and got him a shiny 'x' in the W column. Nice, boy. I'm proud of you. Sorry I couldn't stay.

So I got home and the little men helped me with the bikes. As you can see, not much mud but the perfect kind. The Dugasts at 40lbs were SICK! Perfect. Not once did they come unhitched off of the muddy single track and hard apex turns.

States next weekend and then 'done'.....that is until I start some more training to ramp into January and the coming of the Mol.

'Cross on.

Should you need them, points are for sale cheap on eBay by some of these East coasters. I may need to PayPal me some given the fact that the poop stick got whipped at me this season bumping me outside the kind points leaving a dirty sanchez kind a smell in my memory.

Snowers tomorrow thus rollers as I don't need to get sick and racing at the Rez before Golden in Sunday although I could use the sand work. Plus, mi famiglia and I are grabbing the tree tomorrow for the holidays. Ho ho ho.

See you monkeys Sunday.

This video by CTodd will either help our evangelism of the sport' sgrowth when we shop it to parks and rec people and the like, or ban it due to it being a sport of a bunch of crazy people. HA!

Either way, I love you CTodd. This is gdamn hilarious.