Dromgoogle

Did some trading of an Shepard Fairey print available only in...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:08:48 -0600

Did some trading of an Shepard Fairey print available only in Dallas, and got some “The Hundreds” RSWD gear, only available in LA, CA. Arrived this weekend, made a bad day way better!

Dinner tonight - Rare Seared Salt and Pepper Tuna, with roast...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:11:47 -0600

Dinner tonight - Rare Seared Salt and Pepper Tuna, with roast mini peppers and wasabi mashed potatoes.

Cant wait to cook for my lovely wife on Tuesday.

The Spinistry Texas Chainring Massacre.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:54:00 -0600

I hadn’t been on my cross bike sine the State Championship race in December, and it was looking kind of lonely. So once I realized I would be in town this past weekend I decided to put myself through 90 miles of Denton and Wise county’s finest gravel for The Spinistry’s Texas Chainring Massacre. The event had already been sold out, but I was able to get a transfer from a teammate, so I was in.

There were some big names signed up already, Russ “Big Daddy” Walker, Tom Brandish, Ben Spies and his teammate Simon Essl were also signed up. Eventually Bryan Fawley, and Chris Powers got spots from people who backed out so we were gonna have a pretty good group of strong riders.

Mike Bohn and I previewed the course on Thursday evening, even though it was night, we got a good feel for what the course was going to be like. Lots of undulating hills, and plenty of gravel, some sections had gum ball to golf ball sized gravel, so I was certain the course could not be completed on a standard road bike. We made it out of the pre ride without incident, and were feeling pretty good about the upcoming Sunday.

Sunday morning came and after a slight comedy of errors we were out of the house and headed north. The temperature was in the high 30’s for the start, and didnt get too much warmer all day. Most folks were bundled up with all the clothing they had. I went with a vest, and knee & arm warmers, as I didn’t want to overheat once we got going. I did however go with a liner in my gloves as cold hands will quickly make a ride quite miserable.

We rolled out at 9:00 sharp, and I led the way across Hwy 35, I knew there were a few corners relatively soon and didn’t want to be caught up in the group going through them. It wasn’t long before “Big Daddy” was on my hip ready to go. I was messing with my computer for a bit, and he went up the road a few hundred yards. Bryan, Tom, myself and a few others were ok with letting him dangle there for a few minutes, but not too long. Once we hit the gravel, and the cross wind, and we were all back together, Russ moved to the left side of the road and put everyone in the gutter. Russ and Bryan and two others got a gap, including my teammate Mike Steeves, and I looked around and realized it was up to me get up there.

We rotated a few times, and then I looked behind me and it was just Russ and I. We rolled away and no one really wanted to give a major chase just yet, as we were only 6 miles into the race. We strolled through a few miles of smooth asphalt and hit the real start of the gravel and were still alone. At the feed zone, at mile 27, we would have 4 minutes on the group. We didn’t know this but kept plugging away, taking turns and keeping a good pace. We were having good luck so far, getting through the water crossings without incident (Russ had 80mm deep dish wheels), and no flats.

The wind was out of the north so the first “half” of the race was into a headwind. We would keep an eye on who was behind us, and as we entered Muenster Russ could see Bryan Fawley and Tom Brandish about two miles back. So once we made the right turn to head back south and worked our way out of town, we knew we had to hit it. Russ was on his road bike with 27mm Roubaix tires, and a 53x11, so I tucked into his draft and tried my hardest to keep up with him as I had cross tires which provided a much higher resistance than his smooth road tires, and cross gearing(46x11 was my biggest gear). This went on for about the next 20 miles, we would take turns at the front, but I was already tired from pushing just to keep his wheel.

Just one of the early hills.

The hills seemed to be worse on the way back in once we had passed the feed zone again after mile 71. It may have been the exhaustion setting in, but Russ would gap me on every hill, and it took me longer and longer to get back each time. The final big hill gps at mile 78 is what did it too me. I finally cracked and had no motivation to get back on Russ’s wheel. We would finish solo from here, I sat up for a minute, had a Honey Stinger Waffle, and some water and felt a little bit reenergized. At this point I didn’t know how far back Fawley and Brandish were. I thought maybe 5-10 minutes possibly. Little did I know that they had some tire pressure issues and would finish almost 30 minutes behind me.

Now the goal was to finish the last 10 miles without getting caught, as Russ was no longer in view, and I knew I wouldn’t catch him. The good news was the remaining miles were a gradual downhill back into town, not without some rollers of course though. At point I was catching a few of the last stragglers that were doing the short course, which was slightly motivating, and kept giving me a carrot to chase.

I finished the 89 mile route in 4 hours and 36 minutes, 6 minutes behind Russ. This was definitely a tough route, with some very well linked together roads that kept you on gravel probably for 80% of the route. This was good training for some of the races I have coming up in Late February and Early March. I may add some of the roads into my regular training route rotation when it gets a little bit warmer.

M.I.A. - Bad Girls (Official Video) (by noisey)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:16:45 -0600

M.I.A. - Bad Girls (Official Video) (by noisey)

PACC Elite Team Sponsor Appreciation Day Pics!! Thanks Erin Blinn!!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:18:34 -0600

PACC Elite Team Sponsor Appreciation Day Pics!! Thanks Erin Blinn!!

Watched this tonight while cleaning glue of my tubulars. I...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:16:55 -0600

Watched this tonight while cleaning glue of my tubulars.

I enjoyed it a lot, even though it wasn’t about the Bruins. I’m looking forward to finishing the 4 episode series while cleaning the other rim. Makes me want to go see some Dallas Stars hockey.

Bob’s Red Mill and some Tom Waits on the stereo. Not Black...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:06:53 -0600

Bob’s Red Mill and some Tom Waits on the stereo. Not Black eyed peas, but I’m not really one for traditions.

2 of 5 hours into it. Ankles aren’t a fun area to tattoo.

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:54:51 -0600

2 of 5 hours into it. Ankles aren’t a fun area to tattoo.

Nibble and Sip

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:38:42 -0600

Nibble and Sip:

Blog post I mentioned below.

Getting ready to get tattooed is a ritual not unlike getting...

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:33:19 -0600

Getting ready to get tattooed is a ritual not unlike getting ready to go race bikes. Shaving the body part to be tattooed (the artist will appreciate not having to shave you, so go in prepared), making sure you get a good meal, staying hydrated the days before hand. I like to have something to snack on during the procedure as I learned from a Dave Bruel blog post a ways back. Usually my snacks are also bike snacks, 1 because they are readily available at the house, and 2 I know how my body handles them under duress. The picture above is what Justin has already done up to now. The next post is where I think we’re gonna work on today. I’ll put up some progress pictures during the day.

Texas CX State Championship weekend.

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:31:00 -0600

Cross season 2011-2012 has come to an end a weekend ago with the state championships in Houston for the skill based on Saturday, and a little north of town in The Woodlands for the age based. The weather has finally turned and we aren’t likely to see weather like we had last weekend for the races, sunny, 60 degrees and not much wind.

Saturdays course had alot of variety, loose 180 degree corners, pavement sections, a log to get over, and a run up, as well as some solid grass pedaling sections. I started on the front row as I was in the top 8 of the TXBRA points. There were a few missing riders from the top 8, so they allowed Steve Tilford and Adam Mills to join the front line as well. There were 8 of us in the space to line up, but once we started it got tight quick so you could get squeezed out if you were unlucky. The gun went off and I got clipped in right away and was in fourth wheel maybe. Fawley turned around to see where Tilford was and seeing he didn’t have a perfect start, Fawley turned back around and proceed to turn it on. Paul Bonds would go with him as well as Wiley and Scott Henry soon after that. I settled into our group of four or so. Me, smoothie, Colton and Tilford would soon join us, and not too long after Adam Mills would connect to us.

Everyone was waiting for the other to make the move, I was watching Smoothie and Colton, everyone was watching Tilford, and Im sure I was marked as well. We all took digs at the front, and notl one could really shed anyone except when Tilford attacked. No one went with him. He had 20 seconds on us, but rolled his tire in one of the turns and we would catch him.
With three to go I was on the front, pushing the pace a little seeing if I could get rid of a rider or two, also enjoying the freedom of being at the front and choosing the line. I sat up through the finish line headed into two to go and everyone came around me. Tilford, Adam, Colton and Smoothie. Tilford attacked and Colton went with him. Adam and Smoothie gapped me by about 5 seconds and I was dangling on, trying ever so desperately to catch back on. I was gaining a little bit, but would drop my chain when dismounting halfway up the run up. So chasing again. The same would happen on the last lap, deciding any chance of catching back on to the three remaining riders. I was unable to close the gap, what not for trying. I got 7th overall, 3rd in the Cat 2s, but Adam Mills is from out of state so I got 2nd in the state competition. Im gonna be getting a K-edge chain watcher for the inside and keep a tight chain for next year so that’s less of an issue, plus work on my overall riding(line selection, riding economy, etc.).

I had planned my season around peaking for the State Championship weekend so when Saturday didn’t go as I’d had been planning, it was a huge mental barrier. Sunday I got to the course and tried to do a few warm up laps. I found it incredibly hard to get my heart rate up, much less get the pedals to turn. I had put far too much into the previous days race. I got off the course but we still had an hour or so to go so I went ahead and had some peanut brittle and an orange to see if I could get my blood sugar up. I was feeling a little better and went out and did a few one minute openers on the course looked at a few different lines one more time.

The start line was on the backside of the course so by the time I remembered to head that way most everyone was there. There was 45 starters so it was certainly a big field. Tilford had chosen to head north to OK, but most everyone else was there. You could tell everyone was on edge, as we had a false start, not everyone waiting for the go/whistle to start. So we all got lined back up, and got started proper like. The course was grassy with mulched circles around the trees that made for somewhat loose turning. There was a punchy bi-leveled hill right after the finish and headed through to start the second lap someone attacked and we got it on. Paul and Fawley soon had a 10 second gap, on 4 of us. Adam Mills, Colton, Wiley and myself. It would get somewhat tactical so Paul and Fawley’s lead grew to over 30 seconds. I knew Wiley was my competition for 2nd in the 30-39 category as I didn’t expect to catch Paul Bonds. Wiley had one teammate in the four of us so I was at a disadvantage and knew I had to attack and drop Wiley. I attacked and so did Adam and we dropped him after a few laps.

There was another hill besides the bi-level one after the start. It was early in the lap right after the pit area. It was a right angled turn straight up the backside of the hill. It was a grinder, but if you played it right you could attack after the hill and get some rest going into a swooping downhill left hander. I went into the hill late in the wrong gear and had to dismount. The other two realized I had made a mistake and attacked me to take advantage. They would have me gapped at maybe 10 seconds at the most. I fought valiantly for two laps taking advantage of every bit of the course and the crowd that I could. Powering the flat parts and being as smooth an controlled as I could in the corners. After two or three laps(5-6 minutes a lap) of working as hard as I could, I made connection right after the bi-level hill on the start of the last lap. They immediately sat up, and so did I having been red-lined for the last few minutes.

With the three of us working hard to either catch/not be caught we had brought down the gap to the leaders to under ten seconds again. Paul had attacked Fawley last time through where we had started so they were both on their own.

Adam, Colton and I stayed together until after the big hill. The last trip up it was painstakingly slow, with Adam trying to get one of us to unclip or mess up. He was unsuccessful, and I went to the front and attacked, knowing I only had 4 minutes left to give it my all, so that’s what I would do. Adam dropped by the time we got back around to the front side of the course with the barriers, but Colton wasn’t going anywhere I put in one more dig, but he was unfazed, so I just kept steady power.

He wasn’t going anywhere, so I knew I had to be smooth through the last few sections and be first through the last corner and start my sprint and he wouldn’t be able to come around. It was close but I pushed it as hard as I could and held him off. This victory was particularly sweet as I knew I should have beat him the day before, but not everything lined up my way. I nearly passed out as I got to the hill and I just layed there for a bit trying to catch my breath.
Adam and Colton came over for a bit and we chatted about the days race and the weekend on the whole. I sure am glad I decided to toe the line, instead of heading home as I felt like I wanted to earlier in the day. If I had I wouldn’t have just let myself down, there would have been many of my teammates and friends who would have also been let down. I was much happier with my Sunday performance, even though I still didn’t get a State Championship jersey. There’s always next year.

I heard this quote this evening watching Iron Chef and found it quite fitting to my State Championship weekend.

Win as though your used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.

2011 has been quite an amazing year for me, Top 4 in all the TXBRA categories(crit, TT, road, and CX). I’ve had a great bunch of teammates to share the year with and with the guidance and focus of coaching from Bryan Fawley for next year, and the excellent support of my teammates on PACC, and Plano Cycling and Fitness, I am very hopeful for an even better 2012.

Making Christmas dinner for the in-laws, Leg of lamb and roasted...

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:44:00 -0600

Making Christmas dinner for the in-laws, Leg of lamb and roasted maple pecan Brussel sprouts.

I’m headed to the land of Old Bay for Christmas on Friday,...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:32:57 -0600

I’m headed to the land of Old Bay for Christmas on Friday, so I thought I’d share this awesome looking tattoo dedicated to the spice. It’s good on pretty much everything.

Got mine in the Mail today! Perfect for the day after State...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:27:06 -0600

Got mine in the Mail today! Perfect for the day after State Championships! Recovery Reading!

cyclocrossmagazine:

Oh, this little thing? Just something we russled up. Available on the newstands, or subscribe.

19-39 Age Based State Championship from this Sunday. I finished...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:23:00 -0600

19-39 Age Based State Championship from this Sunday. I finished 3rd overall and 2nd in the 30-39 bracket.

Cyclocross Race The Woodlands Texas (by tooslimpat)

Incase you were wondering what to get me, this would be it....

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:21:00 -0600

Incase you were wondering what to get me, this would be it. Medium shirt and 7 5/8th hat. For sure. Love yous!

photo from this weekend - keeping warm pre race.

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:48:51 -0600

photo from this weekend - keeping warm pre race.

TNX

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:47:09 -0600

Got to do some muddy/grassy cross racing this evening, no after picture but it was nuts. Lots of fun, and ready for the weekend to be here!

Kickstarter - "Hidden Wheel" novel release and tour

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:08:47 -0600

Kickstarter - "Hidden Wheel" novel release and tour:

A friend of mine had his first novel released recently. He’s selling them to fund a book tour. Only 20 dollars gets you a print copy of said book. 5 bucks and you can get an audio copy!

Video from last weeks Sunday course. Im the one in the red of...

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:44:00 -0600

Video from last weeks Sunday course. Im the one in the red of the first two to go through.