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.

BUBBA 6

I was actually able to finish this race with some amount of control. Bike was running great, the HR was in check along with the wind. I got to say that the course was so great for my style. There was a ton of flow to every part, and plenty of areas to keep speed. 3 laps in a group of Denny, Dan W, TK and myslef formed. Denny was the first to go off the back, then Dan. I knew this was trouble with just me and TK. He played the bell lap to perfection. Pretty much perfect timing on the jump, and I could not even bring it down to a sprint. We got a few more weeks left, I am just hoping this is not the top end of my fitness for the year.

I feel weak for bailing on the last Alton race, but shit happens, and I feld compelled to make the LV work day no matter what. There are great things happening out at Lost Valley, and St. Chuck in general. There is a proposed 1.2 miles of trail going in by December. It will be flowing contour trail with some sections of rock, but mostly hardpack that is handcrafted for flossing. That means the Luau will be freaking awesome!! RIGHT?

The Path To Becoming a Hardman

Here is an update, mostly for my benefit. Somtimes it feels good to vent verbally. Somtimes it feels just as good or better than emptying your soul in a race. My plan is to become a hardman. I think 3-5 years of legit training should get me there. I guess its more about the journey than the destination. The hard part is not letting the day to day obstacles slow you down, or get you down. I would like to share my MANTRA. I first read this back in highschool. I look back on it from time to time to re commit myself. This short story by Mark Twight gave me the idea of what to name this blog.

TWITCHING

Twitching with Twight

BY MARK TWIGHT

What's your problem? I think I know. You see it in the mirror every morning: temptation and doubt hip to hip inside your head. You know it's not supposed to be like this. But you drank the Kool-Aid and dressed yourself up in someone else's life.
You're haunted because you remember having something more. With each drag of the razor you ask yourself why you piss your blood into another man's cup. Working at the job he offered, your future is between his thumb and forefinger. And the necessary accessories, the proclamations of success you thought gave you stability provide your boss security. Your debt encourages acquiescence, the heavy mortgage makes you polite.
Aren't you sick of being tempted by an alternative lifestyle, but bound by chains of your own choosing? Of the gnawing doubt that the college graduate, path of least resistance is the right way for you - for ever? Each weekend you prepare for the two weeks each summer when you wake up each day and really ride, or climb; the only imperative being to go to bed tired. When booming thermals shoot you full of juice and your Vario shrieks 7m/sec, you wonder if the lines will pop. The risk pares away life's trivia. Up there, sucking down the thin cumulus, the earth looks small, the boss even smaller, and you wish it could go on forever. But a wish is all it will ever be.
Because the ground is hard. Monday morning is harsh. You wear the hangover of your weekend rush under a strict and proper suit and tie. You listen to NPR because it's inoffensive, PFC: Politically Fucking Correct. Where's the counter-cultural righteousness that had you flirting with Bad Religion and the vintage Pistols tape over the weekend? On Monday you eat frozen food and live the homogenized city experience. But Sunday you thought about cutting your hair very short. You wanted a little more volume and wondered how out of place you looked in the Sub Pop Music Store. Flipping through the import section, you didn't recognize any of the bands. KMFDM? It stands for Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode. Didn't you know? How could you not?
Tuesday you look at the face in the mirror again. It stares back, accusing. How can you get by on that one weekly dose? How can you be satisfied by the artifice of these experiences? Why should your words mean anything? They aren't learned by heart and written in blood. If you cannot grasp the consciousness-altering experience that real mastery of these disciplines proposes, of what value is your participation? The truth is pointless when it is shallow. Do you have the courage to live with the integrity that stabs deep?
Use the mirror to cut to the heart of things and uncover your true self. Use the razor to cut away what you don't need. The life you want to live has no recipe. Following the recipe got you here in the first place:Mix one high school diploma with an undergrad degree and a college sweetheart. With a whisk (or a whip) blend two cars, a poorly built house in a cul de sac, and fifty hours a week working for a board that doesn't give a shit about you. Reproduce once. Then again. Place all ingredients in a rut, or a grave. One is a bit longer than the other. Bake thoroughly until the resulting life is set. Rigid. With no way out. Serve and enjoy."You see your face reflected there in a sweating brow, you hate what you see, but what can be done when there's no way out, no way out?" The Chameleons, "Intrigue in Tangiers"
But there is a way out. Live the lifestyle instead of paying lip service to the lifestyle. Live with commitment. With emotional content. Live whatever life you choose honestly. Give up this renaissance man, dilettante bullshit of doing a lot of different things (and none of them very well by real standards). Get to the guts of one thing; accept, without reservation or rationalization, the responsibility of making a choice. When you live honestly, you can not separate your mind from your body, or your thoughts from your actions."If you really want to hurt them and their children not yet born tell them the truth always". Henry Rollins, from the book See a Grown Man Cry
Tell the truth. First, to yourself. Say it until it hurts. Learn the reality of your own selfishness. Quit living for other people at the expense of your own self, you're not really alive. You live in the land of denial - and they say the view is pretty a long as you remain asleep.
Well it's time to WAKE THE FUCK UP!
So do it. Wake up. When you drink the coffee tomorrow, take it black and notice it. Feel the caffeine surge through you. Don't take it for granted. Use it for something. Burn the Grisham books. Sell the bad CDs. Mariah Carey, Dave Mathews and N Sync aren't part of the soundtrack where you're going.
Cut your hair. Don't worry about the gray. If you're good at what you do, no one cares what you look like. Go to the weight room. Learn the difference between actually working out and what you've been doing. Live for the Iron and the fresh air. Punish your body to perfect your soul. Kick the habit of being nice to everyone you meet. Do they deserve it? Say "no" more often.
Quit posturing at the weekly parties. Your high pulse rate, your 5.12s and quick time on the Slickrock Trail don't mean shit to anybody else. These numbers are the measuring sticks of your own progress; show, don't tell. Don't react to the itch with a scratch. Instead, learn it. Honor the necessity of both the itch and the scratch. But a haircut and a new soundtrack do not a modern man make. As long as you have a safety net you act without commitment. You'll go back to your old habits once you meet a little resistance. You need the samurai's desperateness and his insanity.
Burn the bridge. Nuke the foundation. Back yourself up against a wall. Have an opinion one way or the other, get off the fence and rip it up. Cut yourself off so there is no going back. Once you're committed the truth will come out. You ask about security? What you need is uncertainty. What you need is confusion; something that forces you to reinvent yourself, a whip to drive you harder. "I never try anything - I just do it. Want to try me? White Zombie, "Thunder Kiss"
In Dune, Frank Herbert called it "the attitude of the knife,” cut off what's incomplete and say “now it has finished, for it has ended there.” So finish it, and walk away, forward. Only acts undertaken with commitment have meaning. Only your best effort matters. Life is a Meritocracy, with death as the auditor. Inconsistency, incompetence and lies are all cut short by that final word. Death will change you if you can't change yourself.
“If I can change one, then I can change two. If I can change two, then I can change four. If I can change four, then I can change eight. If I can change eight, then I can change.”One Minute Silence, "If I Can Change"

LBL

My top three pics are Valverde, Chavenel, and Andy Schlek. All three have been building good form, and also have some pretty good results this year. Valverde has been somewhat elusive of late due to some issues with the Italians. I would like to see Chavenel do well. He is a versatile rider, and does not have big time team mates to work for.

I have been riding hopes of these three winning the Amstel, and Fleche. No W's for them so far. Andy Schlek put in a great ride on Sunday with a top 10 at amstel, and a 2nd place finish yesterday at Fleche. Andy has been off the map some, but looks to have good form. He was in the winning move with Davide, which is to say, he did not blow up like cadel evens, and was able to keep his acceleration going. But still, for a 37 year old, Davide played his cards like a true master of the trade. He won the race with good legs(not the strongest). But the determining factor was the mental game he played. We did not see much from Chavenel this week. Valverde was in great position for the third and final climb up the mur de huy yesterday. He hit the climb with a lead out from a team mate, 3rd in line. He was also in a great spot when evens attacked. Still no podium finish.

In all I think Saxo Bank has a well rounded team. Right now both of the Schlek brothers are in and so is Fabian. Frank had a bad crash at Amstel, so he might be out. I would rather go with Frank on this. He has had more results this year than Andy.