Building. Rebuilding. Cold mornings. It's all coming into focus again....my mind feels the same way your eyes do when you come out of a movie theater in the mid afternoon on a sunny day. Part of me is thankful it's here....as it pulls me like an anchor each year to get me through. Then, before I know it...

...it's gone.

And then begin again.

I got out today to practice the skills I love to teach. Sloooooow technique. 1, 2, 3 dismount...1, 2, 3 mount. Repeat. hundres of times. Both sides. One hour. Active recovery.

My ribs still remind me. Am I dumb?

Bikes are coming into shape. Sold one set of Dura Ace and waiting for all the SRAM bits. But got the B bike dialed for now. Anyone locally interested in a set of Dura Ace cranks (175's), BB, 42t ring and dual Wetzikons? Email me if interested.

BCS's Jeremiah and his fandangled tubular stretcher.

B Bike. My training horse. I love it more than ever after my fit. Mmmm.

I dumped my 46c to c Ritchey bars for 44's. WAY better. Classic drop too. Yum.

The TRP EuroX Carbons are ripping. I took KP's advoice and treated the side of my Doogies too with aquaseal.

The A bike still has time. I still dunno when I am coming out to play yet....

I'm late late late. Typhoon's still stretching on my RD-488's but a second set still need a home to get them selves glued on to. very late this season.

Look left. Tree Farm's set up. RD800's and Typhoons Light and super strong. I'll be running it this year. Mmmm.

There is rain like you wouldn't believe here in the Republic. Cold too. Belgie style. But I can not see getting out there and risking a fat cold which is going around with the kids having that awesomme booger nose syndrome....and school hasn't even started. So intervals on the rollers today instead in the garage. The ribs make me feel like I need to vomit when I am laying down but riding it seems OK as long as I do not take in huge volumes of O2. Wrist is healing like a champ. I wish it were the other way around.

Nothing's been perfect for this year's lead up but I am still psyched for the changing of the leaves. I need to be an opportunist this year. No goals but smiles. Sincerely.

More news forthcoming.

Oh, and if I see you on the road, RAISE YOUR HAND TO SAY HI. You are not some PRO in the middle of an interval on Broadway. You get a hall pass if you are liquigas guy.

Photo credit: Jeff C's awesome photog wife.

I'm going for more all around tread pattern this year with a sets of 32's and 34's in the Typhoon pattern. These mofo's will sit and stretch for months down in the basement on their hoops.

It's April. I am already getting hungry.

...in two simple steps. Hmm, yes. I see.

Check it out! My Google Crawler picked up the site for Geoff Proctor's Euro Cross Camp...made famous in the Transitions movies which by now, nearly any one of you fellow cross geeks own (and I am sure you own parts I and II). I saw the Camp's site linked to me which is super cool! I've done the same so you can always come here to link through to their site and read the blog entries and more.

Check out the latest blog entry where Geoff interviews Sven the Cannibal Nijs about the risks of running his Rhinos too high or too low when battling it out with the likes of Bart Wellens. Cool read.

Yum, frickin, yum. Today was a delicious taste of the sensations of Fall. Crisp and cool. Slightly wet tacky. Leg warmers and under shirts. Yum, cross is here.

AC2 and I got out for skills this AM. He's Belgian to the core. Late to bed last night after sewing up gunshot wounds in Aurora (a lovely Denver suburb), homie was out with me at Elks skills-honing while dog owners watched us, heads tilted in a 'huh' sort of way. "Why don't you just stay on that bike?" she says after watching us march up and down the field on/off/on/off/on/off-ing. Hilarious. Pics:

AC2 philosophizing on the merits of Dugast versus FMB.

A small stream of vomit can not be seen but its there

Czech candy

The brake pads are d-i-a-l-e-d now and the Dug's hooked nice in the mud.

Boups and I hit Elks this AM on the early tip. We set up the port-o's and got on with it. The Dugasts were S-I-C-K. So good. I carried them on my back over to Elks. God forbid they touch pavement too much.

So let me just state this for the record: If you are a 3, you better be training to hold Boup's wheel this season. Retarded power. I am making it my mission to smooth this guy out in what will be his second season of cross and put pain to the masses. I think it will be fairly short time before the Open's comes a callin' for him. Boups: One, two, slide lift brother. Make 'em work for it.

This is going to be a multi-day project but now is about the time I need to start. So what do I need to begin this annual rite of cyclocross passage each, fall. Here goes:

a) Beer. Pick something Belgian.
b) Disposable gloves. Get a big box of the thicker Nitrile kind. Latex is too thin for this type of work. They're great for bike maintenance too!
c) Brushes. Buy a shed load of them. They are "acid" brushes and any hardware store has 'em. 29 cents.
d) Tubular glue. I get the toothpaste dispenser kind as it is easier to apply IMHO. I happen to use Vittoria but Conti is good too.
e) Sharpie pen: When you get these things glued, write in small print somewhere on the sidewall the date you finished gluing. Helpful to know as the glue truthfully has a shelf life. I would never go 2 cross seasons on a glued wheel personally.
f) Stretched tires. Do NOT start this unless you have had your new tubulars stretching for 2 weeks minimum, again IMHO. When it comes time to put the tire on the rim for good, it will make your life infinitely easier when stretched.
g) How you do it? I don't want to start a religious debate here but I have found success as follows: Do a tubular a night. Apply 3 coats each to tire and rim. Wait 20 minutes in between each coating. Slightly fill the tubular with air before putting the glued tire to the glued rim. When attached, fill that thing up to about 45% with air. Just enough to allow the pressure from the air to really squish the glue in place and removing any air pockets between the cotton and the carbon (or aluminum). Let it sit in a cool dark place for a week.

Thanks to Dwayne, my Sinsei, at Boulder Cycle Sport for teaching me.

The Rock Lobsters are ready. The Dugasts are still stretching and I'll get them all glued up in a few weeks time but the bikes are all purdy and ready to go. Now, is the body ready? Getting there. That is for damn sure. Flag/Mag/Sunshine today. The goal was to feel as good as possible on teh last one. Maintain watts, all that jazz. Flag: Awesome. Mag: Awesome. Sunshine...Awesome and then like a cliff dive at about 30 minutes, I could barley turn them over. 3 hours and change and 4.5K of vertical today. 7 pounds (yup) 7 pounds in body weight gone. All water. I feel sick but smiling.

Rock lobsters below. Mmm.