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Entries from April 1, 2008 - April 30, 2008

What am I?

Am I a...

...piece of white sex conceptual art?
...marital aid?
...thumb cast?

Hmmm.

Rumormill Tuesday

Rumormill Tuesday! Sponsored by FUD beer.

OK folks, some juicy ones today. It's amazing what you can glean when you go for a lunchtime ride up at Heil Ranch. It's also beautiful having Heil in your backyard to go for a ride a lunch. Lastly, it's even better when your bud calls you up and inspires you to peel away from the PC to go and exercize a bit. In this case, Pete and I got our groove on. Oh, and it's even BETTER when Pete built the trails with his own hands (and a super crew) up their at Heil and showed me all the little nuances of their work...and some secret stuff to boot.

OK, to the rumors. I am such a little beeatch....

Rumor 1: Valmont Bike Park is on the fast(er) track...
A little birdie today told me today that this project is SCREAMING along. The funding which is in the approved stage measures in the multiple millions. Monies have been approved for construction and sustaining the park for years. And there is nary a person in contention with the idea of leveraging the North side of Valmont Park for this dedicated multi-use purpose. Stay tuned for more details. People are PUMPED though to see this move forward. More approvals to move the project through....

Rumor 2: A well funded big fish with one gear is going to by a littler fish with lots of gears...and lots of suspension...
If you spot what I am saying here, then you will be a maverick of riddle solving.

It's beer:30. I'm late!

The Ahrens Whole Shot is ready...

...for Dirt Rag to come and pound on. This particular Whole Shot will be the frame put under their scrutinizing eyes. Shhh. Keep that between you and I for now though.

She looks gorgeous and its eventual owner, our beloved "The Don", better be seen on that thing this cross season. Get is arse down from Sacto to race at Watsonville and get some mud on it.

British racing green. Freshen ya drink, gov'nah?

Mike's CAD designed and CNC-milled yokes give plenty of tire clearance and will provide those that run single rines with inner/outer sandwich guides plenty of room to negotiate.

Major

I don't know about you but THIS to me is major. Breakthrough major. I am stoked out of my MIND for Adam!

1 Julien Absalon (Fra) Orbea                                             1.58.42
2 Christoph Sauser (Swi) Specialized Factory Racing 0.51
3 Florian Vogel (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 0.54
4 Nino Schurter (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 1.06
5 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Orbea 1.53
6 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Full-Dynamix-IT 2.00
7 Burry Stander (RSA) GT Mongoose / Pacific Cycle 2.10
8 Adam Craig (USA) Giant Mountain Bike Team 2.22
9 Seamus McGrath (Can) 2.32
10 Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) 2.40
11 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Cannondale-Vredestein 2.50
12 Cédric Ravanel (Fra) Team Lapierre International 2.55
13 Ivan Alvarez Gutierrez (Spa) Giant Italia Team 2.59
14 Kashi Leuchs (NZl) Cannondale-Vredestein 3.00
15 Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa) Orbea 3.05
16 Martin Gujan (Swi) Athleticum-MTB-Team 3.22
17 Thomas Frischknecht (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.26
18 Jürg Graf (Swi) Swisspower MTB Team 3.30
19 Geoff Kabush (Can) Team Maxxis 3.35
20 Rudi Van Houts (Ned) Dolphin-Trek Mountainbike Racing Team 3.36
21 Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa) Orbea 3.38
22 Christoph Soukup (Aut) 4.24
23 Todd Wells (USA) GT Mongoose / Pacific Cycle 4.42
24 José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) Multivan Merida Biking Team 4.48
25 Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) ECP-TAU Ceramica 5.00
Frankly Geoff and Seamus comin in top 20 is solid as well. and FRISCHY! Yeah boy! Here's to the old men. The Olympics are certainly are a-callin'. Awesome to see these results.

White Sex is now viral...

OK, in all sincerity, this is getting crazy. Funny, but crazy. White junk like glasses, shoes, gloves, bars, seats, brakes, yadda, yadda is certainly the flavor d'jour and I am in partly responsible for pushing this like a sweaty evangelist with my gold-plated microphone preaching to my congregation who have their hands raised, eyes closed, singing hallelujah, praise be and amen.

What have we created?

In times like these when we're all confused and need some grounding, where do we turn? Well, I turn to T-Brown. Travis, oh Travis, what does your infinatley wise/ahead-of-the-curve fashion sense tell you? Lead us out of this mess. You are the Johnny Cash of bike racing and the anti-fashion maven. You MUST have the secret sense to know how to help us traverse out of this white-mess.

Oh, God. NO! Even Travis is busted! White Sex is going viral...and going international. It's airborne. Note my boy Stef's site. He's been afflicted.

White is the new white. What's next? I've gotta think through this. Could be my greatest vision yet. Must, save the...earth....

The 2009 TRP EuroX brakes. Mmmmmm.

Can you say: PRODUCTION BABY?! My main man Lane sent me this little heads up on the new TRP EuroX's for 2009. I received a set of the carbon beauties to test in Belgium and will be outfitting ALL my bikes with them for this coming season. Absolutely sick technology designed to be fully modularized. If you change wheels like me between carbon hoops for race day to 32 hole 3-cross bomber wheels for training, nothing beats a 10 second pad change the TRP's allow for to ensure your carbon pads are preserved for race day and no aluminum shavings are impregnated in the pads to nastily tear away your carbon braking surface.

But kids, TRP takes it up a notch for 2009! For years, PRO mechanics in Europe have been retrofitting their riders' brakes for small customizations on pad distance from the rim. When you swap between a carbon rim with a smaller diameter width to an aluminum one which have a generally wider tire well, the mechanics needed an ability to slightly open up the pad distance without resorting to the releasing the straddle cable. Thus the following inventions were born:

Note the adaption of the Zanconato above. A small barrel adjuster added to the end of the straddle cable to pull the brakes in...or out as desired.

Similarly, note my boy Jon Baker's set up on his Spooky Carbons. Probably from an old brake hanger adjuster.

But TRP for 09 has brought this to PRODUCTION! The detail here is astounding and as a career product manager, I applaud the PM who manages this line of business for TRP. This CLEARLY is a product manager listening to his users....and shows the cult details they want to bring to market to out-do the competition....and they have responded by not only blinging these mo-fos out in white sex, but have added the barrel adjuster AND toe-in adjustment capabilities!

SWEET!

Dear TRP: I will wear the Little Bo Peep Dress to get first dips at these. Please.

Balancing act

I just got through reading local boy Jason Sumner's latest update on VeloNews about his exploits as a worker-bee and bike racer. He's got a multi-part series dedicated to how getting a coach and working on his personal performance while having a job can all work out. Sound familiar? I'll have to pick his brain when we hook up.

His coach, Neal Henderson is an old friend and former RockyMount'r and in the article says some prolific things regarding obsessing. Trust me, I am the uber-candidate for obsessing. To be frank, I am called 'One Speed' by family and close friends. Not because I ride a single speed, but due to the fact I do everything at one speed: fast and frenetic. It's only as of late when the very first grey hairs started popping out of my head that I suddenly realized that chilling a bit actually allows for a better overall 'experience' on all 3 parts of my precarious teeter totter.

Before being coached properly, I would ride virtually every ride full gas. EVERY ride. More more more!! I wasn't thinking slow may = quality because my identification with training was throwing down with friends until we made our ears bleed and we were shelled. Then, of course, when I'd try and race, i'd get demolished and get psychotic and pissed. I'd be the surly monster in the house and 'that grumpy guy' at work. ALL of which is NOT me! I am still the boy who is the human equivalent of a Labrador Retriever who's fat tail is always wagging. Right? (say: Right, Greg)

So a change of focus on MANY areas of my life has significantly helped me. First getting coached...and by a real coach who appreciates my psyche, my real condition...my world. More specifically, one who isn't obsessing in parallel with my obsessions such as solely focusing on my wattage, heart rate, body weight and and caloric data each week. I love the fact that the first things we discuss when we get together to talk about my training week is to understand how I am sleeping and what my external stress is like. When THAT is discussed first...and often occupies the core of the conversation...it proves that the understanding of my situation when trying to be at the top of my game is clear and deeply factored in. I feared that getting a coach would be paramount to being put on some boiler-plate plan, when the plan was likely modeled after a successful (likely pro) athlete who does NOT have the life condition I have or most 37 year old daddy/husband/worker bees. My plan is constantly tweaked and course-corrected week after week while keeping the goals I have in mind and in focus....and on target.

Second, stepping back and embracing my Type A-ness helped. Again, my WHOLE life from being a 6 year old kid who would go from hockey to soccer to baseball practice in one day (and LOVING it) has seemingly not changed in 30 years. So, realizing I can chill, that my 'racing' side of the teeter totter doesn't mean I need to be at the pointy end of the pro ride here in town (and being n Boulder is ridiculous by the way when the pro ride is essentially Toyota United, Health Next etc...). I needed to get real! Also, realizing that going for a ride...I mean a ride where my heart is not in my throat and am cross eyed is amazing and utterly needed. Seeing the trees on my 29'er or single speed...and by intent not affixing a power meter or wearing a heart rate device on my MTB rides was a saving grace. I preserve my MTB-ing for assurance of grins. I also injected running into the frey. I HATE running. But now I...holy crap...I LIKE running. Yikes. I said it. It changes things up tremendously for me vis-a-vis my workouts and the muscles used to stay fit.

Third, I'd say that communication has played a HUGE part in the over-all chillness. What I specifically mean here is that I never in the past communicated or would think to give advanced notice to my wife about my plans, my goals...even what kinds of rides I would be doing in the upcoming week. Example: the LAST thing a young mother who also wants to work out, have some alone time, etc wants to hear from me on Saturday morning: "Oh, yeah, um honey, I was going to do this 6 hour training ride today. Um, can you like have the kids again all day?" Being a shit head and not being sensitive to anyone outside of ME was a continual recipe for disaster and definitely wrecked what could have been some fun weekends. Bike racing is utterly one dimensional. You have to have total focus and unfortunately it is very selfish. Getting real about who I am is extremely important to my success. So, my wife and I TALK. She knows EXACTLY what I have planned for the week, and I know her desires, and there are NO surprises. We balance out our personal time and create and communicate the need for windows where we do our 'work outs' and ensure we have full on kid/together time. HUGE positive impact for all of us.

Fourth, I'd say that getting some help for my aging body has helped IMMENSELY! Working with Dr. Dave and spending some time on some ailing bones and muscles is helping hugely. I wish I hadn't waited! It has helped immeasurably so replacing a workout session with some chiropractic and massage TLC is so core and key, I can't recommend it enough.

Lastly, life is short. And while I like to play hard, being 'present' for my family and my wife and not a surly obsessive weenie is what is going to ensure the cement at our core is unbreakable and will carry us through until we are crusty blue-hairs in a retirement home together being spoon fed applesauce by a nurse. The winner of the 'race' is who is truly happiest at the end with no regrets.

Right?

Mark your calendars! April 30th - Boulder Premier of "Seasons"

Boulder Mountainbike Alliance & Boulder Adventure Film Festival Present:

S E A S O N S - A new film by The Collective

Wednesday, April 30th, 7:30PM at the Boulder Theater

The film follows seven of the world’s top mountain bikers through the course of the seasons of one year. The film explores what it means to be a full time rider as told through the lives of downhill racers, slopestyle competitors, and big mountain freeriders.

Come kick off your season with your riding friends and the rest of the cycling community at the Boulder Theater.

Tickets available thru the Boulder Theater Box Office

Or contact Botsy Phillips with any questions. botsyphillips@hotmail.com or 720.629.5100

Proceeds to benefit the BMA Better Trails Fund and the Boulder DEVO / Tokyo Joe’s Junior Development Team

This is NOT how you want to see an ex team mate

My GOD, this sucked to see on CyclingNews.com yesterday. Our RockyMounts alumnus Corey Collier was in a clearly ridiculous crash with Ben Day and local boy Tim Duggan. You've all ready that by now but MAN, we all hope you guys get better, especially you, Timmy.

Corey's good bro and our team mate AC2 got a note from him last night. And I quote:

"....I'm doin alright. yeah, hittin the deck unexpectedly at 72k an hour is not good...doc stitched me up last night, took a chunk of bone out of the tibia, other than that pretty luck. here to battle another day!"

Holy crap.

Corey was a 'devo' rider for RM in 05 before MOB took him to the next level and truly showing his class at the Gila last year. Health Net grabbed that talent outright. Road Magazine did a nice spot in all the North American teams this year with a great interview of Tim Johnson and Corey chiming in on his being the newbie and hoping not to be a full on 'nail' versus all the talented 'hammers' in the peloton. He's proving his grit in this TdG.

Corey man, we are SUPER proud of you beyond belief. This is amazing to see one of our 'youngin's' make it! SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU GOT, BOY!

Corey, 4th from left.

Tokyo rules

What will the Land of the Rising Sun improve on next?

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Thanks for passing this on, Longman.