Got the wheels re-dialed this week so let's see if I can't keep the Gremlins from crawling all over and inside the machine to take me out again. Looking forward to Frisco and firing up the engine again at 10K feet. Got work to do this week on all three seats of the teeter totter as I ramp up for racing goals, family plans and work travel to the 2,240 meter-high Mexico City. Gonna preso-out to a couple of hundred of my close Mexican business associates. Translator and all. Nice. Done this a zillion times in places like Osaka and Sao Paolo too and is fun to have their laughter happen 35 seconds after the joke has been told.

Timmy is planning on make the trip down to Za Reepoobleek for the Wed Am World Championships to have some fun. Weather should be nice still but I feel somthings a brewin' for Frisco this weekend weather-wise so I'll be packing doubles of everything.

Wish me luck that the bikes stay together. I'd ironically love the excuse that the engine wasn't cooperating than the bike.

There is fairly good break down of Cross Vegas found here along with some pretty darn good photography of the evening.

....and forty million miles from the sun. Or so the song goes. Perfect and ironic that it came on this AM on my shuffle as I continue putting in the work in the early morning air. Yesterday was still felt in my legs but the air was crisp and the determination was there. Beautiful. I threw the leg over the bike, hit play and rolled. The ride tore upon the healing muscles that helped me at least take back 11 places as I watched the race roll away. It was needed.

At the top of Lee Hill the song came on and the lyrics spoke to me. Again smiles. Did it fall apart before it all began? Easy to let the mind pour gasoline on itself and commit suicide. Rolling in the garage, my son heard the door rumble open. He comes flying out with a pair of ridiculously old Oakleys....no lenses.

"Did you not crash and win daddy?! Can we ride now!?"

What can I do? I'm the luckiest man on earth. Just stuck between the green grass and forty million miles from the sun.

My boy John B got an AWESOME pic of Cipo at the "World Crit Championships" in Vegas. Check out Steve Bauer drilling it in front of him. And yes, that is 'crosser Mark McCormack coming through on the inside! RAD pic John!!

It comes in threes right? I'm sitting here, after coming home, showering and playing Legos for 2 hours with the boys....and I'm laughing. Boulder CX No. 1 and for the third week in a row...drama! Ha! More on that in a minute.

CLASSIC fall day here. 68, partly sunny, leaves changing. Awesome. My family came out for the day today too! My beautiful wife and boys were out with bikes and loud voices (cowbells were forgotten....doh!). I pre-road the course at the Boulder Research Center which I know intimately. Same course as last year and utilizes all the same stuff that the Short Tracks use albeit with pavement. Technical, twitchy, dirt and rock strewn but frigging fun. I drilled it on this course last year to like 6th place and loved it.

So with Amy and the boys there by the staging, call ups begin. Even with my first two crap-ass race performances, I got the call up. Teton called up the Top 20 and I had enough points to get in there. Wardell called me up next to him for the front row.

3,2,1...Go! we're off and I easily take the hole shot. Leading up to this race, I had the most peaceful week of rest and light training. All by design and I had smiles on my face at the line today. The warm up gave me great sensations. I felt deep. Very very deep. 100% different than last week. So back to the hole shot, I bury it intentionally at the gun. Yes my classic self but I feel it today. Again smiles. I had a plan and I stuck to it and what I envisioned came true. I wanted the split to occur in lap one....and I even envisioned the people I wanted in the split....and got them to. The legs are floating in a "no chain" sort of way. Lap one I lead all the way and start backing down the watts and get that split to connect. Lap 2 and I let Phenecie Wardell and another guy take over and I am spinning my legs like a school boy behind them. Coming into a drop in....it occurs again:

BOOM!

A boom like a .44 Magnum and I am down on my face...literally. The front Challenge Griffo explodes at max speed on the decent. 100% shoulder and face plant. So quick. Breckenridge style. Cheeckbone and shoulder abraised and the lenses of my Oakley Radars scratched and dirty that I can't see.

I can't buy a break! Ha!

So, I grab my shit, wobble through to the other side of the course to the pits to grab my back up Rock Lobster. The EVER FAITHFUL Squires brothers are there waiting for me (THANK YOU GUYS!!!) Walking over in my stupor, I yell out "Fuuuuuuu_ _ _ _ _ _kkkk!" in frustration. Nat Ross is doing the announcing today right by the pits and decides that I am his target of ridicule after that F bomb. I deserve it. Too many kids around and temper tantrums are gay and I fell victim to it. Doug Squires hands me a bottle, my spare bike and a smile and laugh and tells me to get on it. He's been witness to all three debacles and there for me.

Angry man mode in effect. I capital B bury myself. I am conservatively by this point 60-70 seconds in back of the last place guy. Yes I'm angry...but laughing. I use all that 'feeling good' I had at the start to the best of my ability and start reeling in people....1, 2, 3, 4...8,9. I made a game and counted exactly 10 people I took back. Aiden and Seamus are yelling their little voices off for me. GO DADDY! GO GO DAD!! There is absolutely no friggin way I am pulling out today. I don't care what place I'm in. Dave Weber's wife cheering. Von B yelling at me. I am just going ballistic. I honest enough to say that I'd never say "I'll never quit!!!" but today it was pride in front of the fam. Bottom line. Also, this was probably the single best work out I've had since the heavy training in the Summer. Yes, I'm looking at the bright side. But I had this juice flowing through me and I had o at least feel depth. I did.

Speaking of bright side, Ward The WB Baker cranked a Top 10 today with equipment that wasn't even working for him today. God I wanted to have him with me if I'd still been in the race. He was bridging already by lap 2 or 3 and it would have been a DREAM scenario like he and I talked about before the season began. Also, Dave Weber did well too! His family cheering us all on! All that after he cracked some vertebrae recently! A hard man. Nice work, boys.

So, in the end, I'm sitting here...smiling. I can't take all this stuff seriously....as much as I'd normally have a tenancy to. God, I love it. God I am so lucky I can get out there and do this. God I just want some luck!!! HA!!

Does it come in threes? Breck...Colorado Springs....Boulder. I sure as shit hope so!

I JUST want to look up in the sky on January 19th 2008 in Mol Belgium and whisper silently "You did it man. One year of focus. Ups and downs. You are here." I will. I promise you.

Digital celluloid:

Call up

I must be in the front row. Phenecie, on the left, is the Faia of 06 it is appearing. Flying.

My boys waiting for the gun.

3, 2, 1 go!

The WB gettin' it done on the run up.

Run Forest, run!

Nice form Weber!

Hup, friggin' hup, Keller

More hup.

And even more hup

EXPLOSIVO!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading folks.

Ah, the Rocky Mounts team. What can I say? we are core 'cross geeks. Here's Greg H (white helmet) and Ryan H (black helmet) getting their 'cross training on. You go boys.

Simon has hung up the tubulars and is selling his race steed. A georgeous RL Team Scandium.
You can see the full posting with more pics here but the 'need to know' is this:

Yes, it is with a heavy heart that I sell my good friend Simon's 'cross bike. This is about as full race as you can get right down to the Dugast tires. There are no downstream cheap bunko parts on this machine.....all the best of the best. For details call me at 831-429-8010 weekdays. Simon has retired from racing and somebody out there will get the bike he did his last season of racing on. This bike is near mint and has many more races left in it.

Oh dear. I don't think I can sleep until I'm able to source these. TRP has launched White Sex of the braking kind. TRP just launched the Empella-like carbon brake and now this magnesium beauty. Mmm. In white. Oh , God.Oh. You're not supposed to use your brakes in 'cross. Forgot that. But they're so pretty.

This is a pretty well produced re-cap of the UCI race Pagey-Page won in Michigan in is new Sunweb colors.The video in its entirety can be seen here.

...grabs the 'W' at CrossVegas.

photo by BikeDrool.