Enter the Kettlebell

This single piece of equipment has the power to change your entire life. Using it requires a skill, which I am still acquiring. Two work outs: the Turkish get up, and the kettle bell swing. I have worked on form for 3 weeks, now I am adding this circuit to the mix: do the circuit 6 times.

15 push ups regular or elevated feet

25 mountain climbers with Swiss ball with 3 second hold each rep.

20 prisoner squats

add 2-3 runs per week with a clean diet. The beauty of this plan is its simplicity. 3 weeks in the books, 9 more to go.

Two days of skiing groomers to wet my appetite. The last two days have been 8 inch + of the real deal powder. I took a fall on some rocks, resulting in a puncture wound to my elbow. It cut through my shell, and two thermal layers straight to my elbow. The chick at the first aid station said I didn't need stitches, so I went out to hunt some more fresh tracks.


Check out your boys powder skills. I have been working for about 4 years on my moves....I think I am starting to get the hang of it.







Skiing powder is so addicting its hard to explain. Bottom line, you have the feeling of floating, and snow is flying in your face making it hard to breathe.

Today was more of the same. We got about 10 more inches of the goods, making the snow about mid shin.

What it takes


Getting ready for ski season

Washington

I did the 3’s race today. 3 guys in the race made for some interesting dynamics. Scott and I have been in many a battle this year. We have a pretty even record of defeats and losses when matching up against one another. I believe that Greg has done a few A races. The results show 1 race, but I kind of remember him in another one. Anyways, he had a great race in Augusta, and I dropped out of that race, so its hard to compare the performance. I mean beyond the fact that he was killing it in that race, and I was off the back. Now, the three of us also met at the State 3’s race last week. I tried my hardest to bridge to Greg with Jason W at one point early in the race. We got super close(5-10 bike lengths), but never made it happen. This set the backdrop and the stage for the showdown that was the 3’s race yesterday. The start was faster than I had hoped, and never really let off. Greg took the helm for a few laps. Scott came around me early, we traded quickly on the run section into the pavement. The next lap, Scott comes around me strong, and moved up to Greg, I believe he even rode point for a while. They were gone from there. I’m sitting in just trying to finish and these guys moving away in the mud like a d-9 bulldozer. Mistake of the day was waiting until half way through the race to drop into the 39. It was the first and only temporary relief of the course. Somehow Scott did this race without toe spikes. Somehow my lasting memory of this race consists of me staring at my front wheel, and I can’t hear anything accept my heavy breathing, with the occasional primal moan as I slip in the mud.

State CX Race

A perfect course and perfect conditions came together for this event. The pavement start was fast, the corners were slick, and the mud had some deep ruts. The 3's race was later in the day, so the course was worn in, and pretty technical. I felt good for this race, but when the time came to put out, I came up short. I had a nice battle going with the man beast Christopher, and Jason Watkins, both super strong. When it came down to nut cuttin time, I was the odd man out, ended up 11th for the day. The move of the day that I missed was moving up and latching on to Greg Layke, got close a few times, but never happened. I ate shit on the slick corner warming up, and again on the last lap. I remember Jeff telling a story about getting mud on the gloves, and it basically ending his race. I didnt really think much about it at the time, but it happened to me, and I hit the ground again trying to remount. The 3's race has come along way in the last 2 years. DB won two years ago in a 2? man field, last year was larger, and had a decently strong group, a few ringers were thrown in. This year had some solid talent filled the ranks with mega fitness, making it much harder. A part of me was disappointed with the result, but when you take a look at what we are doing out there, its pretty unreal. The real disappointment came in my bike handling skills. Truly embarrassing for this race. Overall, this was a great time as always.

Ill give a short description of the Mt. Pleasent race I was looking forward to. FUCK. My ego is hurt real bad from that race, and so is my shin that I cut open on my TRP rear break. Check out the skin piled on there. The cut was not deep, but fairly big. This race was the biggest disappointment of the season so far. That's about it.

The St Vincent race on Sunday was a happier story. It was cold and cloudy, which is always nice for what we do. During the warm up laps, I was riding the hill by the lake, but decided to run it every time in the race. After watching the video, I decided that riding would have been better, but with a different line then I was taking. Each lap, I would go to the extreme left to run. There was a nice deep diagonal rut to guide my feet right up. After watching the video, I saw what the real tech was. Most of the fast guys seemed to be cutting from right to left up the hill, and were carrying some insane speed doing so. I just felt happy to use some of the running fitness I have acquired over the past few weeks. The only down side of running this was mud clogged pedals and cleats. I also bent the shit out of my ti saddle with a remount that was too far back. Technique goes a long way.

The rest of the race was great. The hill was the weak spot for me, with the following sections allowing me to carry tons of speed. I found my self super close to bridging up to Casey, but was unable to put out. Ended up in 10th for the day, which I am very proud of.

CX season has 3 more races for me, with Herman being next. The course there is fast! With little rain the course could be similar to the night race, condition wise. From past experience, the stairs and the hill in the back seem to be the most difficult sections. The back section always seems to hold more moisture than the front, so pre-riding will be key. I feel good about my fitness level, but it seems as though the competition has progressed alot more than I have this year. The optimist in me says "you have come along way this year". But the negative Nancy in me looks at my 2009 training log and points out the big holes in the second half of the year.

The off season is approaching, so that means two things for me. Drinking brew dogs, and skiing.

St. Vincent CX...our own little Koppenberg

Memories...the second CX race I ever did was at St. Vincent park, back in 2007. I won the C race in a heads up chase against David Stroote...it was probably the last time I beat him in a race. It seems like a long time ago.

This was the sickest course I have ever done!! I am a sucker for the fast, swoopy turns that throw you into a tight curve, and MUD. Mud that is hard to walk in, run in, ride in, or turn in. This was epic mud, back in the woods, with people lined up on each side. The Euro feeling alone was good for atleast an extra 20 watts. Every section had a way of exposing any weakness. I loved the mud section, but just could not get it together going through there. A bad line here, or a wrong gear there...those types of mistakes add up in a slugfest like this one. A few pre-ride laps would have gone a long way for this race. I learned my lesson on that. The first half of the race in the big ring, trying to play defence with my position. All that did was leave me feeling like Daves tire...all empty inside. My overall position was sub-par for my expectations(15th), the cold beer afterward beat my expectations, so the day was a success in my book. The cold beer really makes it worth getting the shit kicked out of you for an hour. The competition this year has really stepped up, and gotten fierce. It is hard for me to finish a race without feeling like I have been punched in the face. I guess the important part is how quick you get up, and back into the fight. Speaking of taking your beat downs like a man, big congrats to Schwick, Robert and a few others for manning up to the A race. That makes Schwick a mad man for doing his first expert race and A race in the same year. This kid steps into the A race, puts in a MONSTER RIDE, and finishes just outside top 10.

And now, something I am really excited about..BUBBA IN AGUSTA. The weather is crap right now, and that is getting me stoked about this weekend. I hope this will be a shot at redemption in the mud. I fancy myself as a bike handler, so let the good times roll.