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.

My team mate G-Pent's wife Cari TOTALLY dialed me with a Tri All double-wide travel case and wheel case for the journey over seas. THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU GUYS!

I've got to get these things trial-packed. Anyone ever use this set up? Any gotchas (besides what I am going to have to pay United??). They look bomber and are pretty straight forward with wheel mounts inside. It looks like merely seat , wheel and pedals need to come off but I am suspect on the bars being able to be left on.

Anywhoo:

ONE WEEK LEFT! YEE HAW!

It's as if someone had cameras on me at work....

Set the scene: I walk into BCS and Brandon has a big shit eating grin.

Greg: Hey Dubba, what up?
Brandon: (maniacally smiles)
Greg: Seriously, what's up man? Do you have gas or something?
Brandon: (whips out a bag from behind the counter to display the carbon lust bits).
Greg: (wet spot materializes)

Behold, the TRP EuroX Carbons from TRP. Oh, God.

I originally reported on the white magnesium jobbies back a few months ago and now this set has arrived at BCS...one of a handful here in the US being tested. I am not wearing stars-n-bars like a certain 35 Master is, so I'll have to live my improved braking experiences vicariously through Brandon and his Cheshire Cat grin.

The Aluminum Version on Dwayne's scale:

The EuroX Carbons:Just let me know if I can help test these any time, B, Seriously. No, seriously.

This beloften has one upped me with the pimp monochromatic White Sex. Damn you junior. Damn you and your awe inspiring, national championship winning, genetics bringing you such good fortune from the Sidi rep. Damn you.

No, not the 'finest' from that far NorCal of, say, the Humboldt variant. No, I'm speaking about the finest of the ferrous and non-ferrous variant. Like you, I scoped out the article on Cycling News and was stoked to see Sycip getting some air coverage for their Diesel 1 x 1. Jeremy and Jay Sycip (say: SEE-sip not SIGH-sip) are brothers who have made the bicycle their "trade"...but not without wrapping the trade in a thick layer of gooey art that draws you into their product like a moth to a flame. A welding torch and the most insane paint jobs are their rough parallels to oil and canvas. Outside bicycles, if you get the chance, you should check out some of the custom designed furniture these guys produce. Sick.

I am totally biased here having been a Sycip owner since 2001. The first time I saw these guys was at the 1999 Super Cup/National Championships when we raced in the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco (and we'll never be able to again. Long story...). I finished my race and walked past their hobble of a booth where they had like one bike on display. It was this sort of mint green and black thing I recall that shone like a beacon and it just drew me in. One side was the mint....the other was the black. Extremely unique paint job....which I would later find out is call their "split personality" paint scheme. I scoped out the bike and studied every detail form the paint to the over sized Columbus tubing used. Love. Or maybe lust. So I saved my pennies (it took me a while as a struggling computer guy living in a 200 square ft apartment in SF at $1000 a month) and by 2001 I ordered my custom Sycip. I walked down to the piers in San Francisco on the Bay where they had their 'laboratory'. They fit me, asked me questions and we assembled a combination of Columbus tubing for the main triangles and Tange for the chain stays which were stiffer and made for track bikes....all designed to some how find a balance for a bike that I would use all around...from climbing to sprinting. They NAILED it. From crits to Colorado dirt road races (we do a LOT of those out here), the bike Jeremy and Jay made me is irreplaceable. I do not know how I will be able to sit on a 'new' frame and not be able to judge it against the Sycip. Having ridden steel, carbon fiber and titanium road bikes, the Columbus tubing just makes this bike feel perfect in and out of the saddle, at speed or on slow technical climbs.

Anyhoo, go talk to them if you are interested in a new frame. There's my plug.

The REAL intent of the story here is the NorCal builder's story...and to expose you to some rich history and some other builders from the Bay Area. All of these NorCal manufacturers have a very intertwined and incestuous ancestry. Obviously, this is a personal story of some 'connections' between builders connected to my life, but the NorCal builders 'history' is legendary and well documented already.

As you read in the Sycip Diesel article on CyclingNews, Jeremy Sycip apprenticed under my long time friend Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster Cycles. It was there that Jeremy learned the ins-and-outs of welding frames and getting to know the characteristics of how various materials from steel to Aluminum, to Scandium to Titanium get 'glued' together. As you'll see, it seems like a LOT has been inspired from the hallowed halls of Paul's Rock Lobster 'laboratory' in Santa Cruz. Let's start there...

Paul is a Brooklyn-ite who emigrated to the Left Coast ages and ages ago. He found his way to Santa Cruz and befriended the likes of builders such as Keith Bontrager (who also was building bikes and bits in his garage) and Salsa Cycle's Ross Schafer (with whom Paul plays music with as they are both insane musicians). When you look at the styles of their frame building, so much of their influence rubbed off on each other. Look at the rear triangles of a Rock Lobster and a Bontrager and you'll see what I mean.

Paul's reputation grew as his frames carried various known names to 'cross and track national titles. In the late '90's, a 'boy' at the time, Mike Ahrens was nearing graduation from his university, and his thesis in his engineering program was a full suspension bike frame design. Mike did the engineering and he solicited Paul's help given his reputation to apply 'truth' to the design vis-a-vis materials, etc. Together they built what would later be called the "Pinch a Log" (see photo to the right). I also ran this FS rig for a while helping Mike dial in the characteristics. With Paul's guidance over the years and a helluva lot of engineering savvy on his own behalf, Mike has since gone on to create his own company, Ahrens Bicycles. I am absolutely looking forward to getting my Ahrens Revolver 29'er built up this spring!

While all this 'apprenticing' activity was going on at Paul's shop, another welding torch was burning bright right within the same space. Paul shared workspace in this small studio with another Santa Cruz artist: Rick Hunter. To see his bikes is to get a sense of retro-meets-modern-meets-funk. Rick's bikes are epic. His signature now is curvy top tubes as well as truly unique designs...but some things have remained the same such as his use of razor thin seat stays that shout out to Bontrager and Rock Lobster designs of 'back in the day'. I'm not necessarily saying Paul rubbed off on Rick given the close proximity of their work stands...but I wonder of there was a bit of that apprenticing going on as well. In any event, Hunter frames get worked in the West Coast mud weekend in and out by folks wearing lycra....or in drag.

I'll be attempting to bring some of that NorCal mojo with me to za Motherland in a week's time to dip these frames in the Holy Mud Water. I hope the pilot can give these storied fames justice!

So, as I prepare for my remaining four races, I was reflecting on the season at large. The specific goals I initially set for myself were not 'met' per se, but I am still happy. Racing against some of the best racers in the country over 35 years old and making the race with them is not only an honor but a rush.

Lots changed this year in terms of how I raced and how I prepared for the season. After 10 years of 'crossing, you STILL learn things about yourself and the game. Amazing. Having Taro in my corner helped immeasurably to provide me another lens into what my strengths, but more importantly, my weaknesses are. Training "less" in terms of volume but very focused on quality training ranging between 6-10 hours a week through power metering also was new to me this year and paid dividends. Way more important than being a watt-weenie though was resting. I never rested before! I would going inexplicably hard week after week in seasons past until December where I would feel like a shell of a person. I felt totally different this year and the suffering was different. I felt really fresh at CO States as an example. Overall, I felt lighter on the bike, quicker in terms of leg speed, my running game was infinitely better with running training 3 x per week on average and I could feel exactly what I needed to tune each race as my body was saying things to me and I was taught to listen to it. All this in contrast to season's past being cross eyed each race praying I come across the line in a good place and looking forward to the last race of the season by mid November. This year I felt more in control and had motivation for more and more (generally speaking! Read some of my earlier race report rants and you may disagree).

What I was not in control of though was my shit luck! Ha! Tires, tires and more tires were my nemesis this year. Rolled Dugasts, failed Challenges....it never seemed to end and each race it seemed was a Ground Hog day of feeling really good and confident, pushing the pace initially, tire implosion of some variant...then play catch up the rest of the race.

My team mate Chris V captured this all on film in Gunnison and demonstrates what is a fantastic encapsulation of the shite.

The race begins with me feeling on fire. I want to hurt guys early on.

I create the split I want with a team mate. Sweet.

I start to hear noises in my rear wheel and at the end of this clip, I drop my head to see whatup.

More of the same per above. I am looking down and trying to figure out WTF is going on. I then roll RIGHT BY the pits and past my spare bike. Smart, man. Smart.

Voila. I am gone. Wheel implosion about 10 seconds before you see Karl, Chris and Ward come through the barriers.

I'm back! But who's bike am I on?

I drop of that bike and CV and Brady Kappius help me with a change to my back up Rock Lobster. The chase from last place is on.

Catch one...move on...catch another...move on. The pick off game is in effect.

And so it went like that for many races for me this season. I'm definitely not crying a river here but would love to have seen how I could have done without so much drama! Fun as hell though and the guys I get to race with every weekend are filled with za class.

I got some revenge in the Opens later that day with a good start...

And a consistent job through out the day after putting it all out playing catch up earlier in the 35 Opens....

So there we go. Wish me luck for no more drama in these last four races but rather technically clean races with rubber stuck firmly to carbon.

Thanks Chris for sending me the vids!

So I made mention that I'd love to see TJ rockin a legit National Champion's skinsuit instead of the podium jersey he was rocking. Looks like the got it to him post haste although we did not get to see much of it due to issues TJ had apparently at the GVA held in Loenhout:They could've shipped him a red white and blue Giro though! Ha! By the way, the picture above was taken by the person shooting Geoff's folks at Cross Camp. Lots of good shots of the various races the Euro Crossers are competing in while over there.

He even grabbed a nice shot of Paco suffering it out against the big'uns in Torhout!