Iowa lightning and rain

The plan to ride in Iowa had to get scrapped due to weather. It all started with lightning on the horizon, which turned to rain. The skies had cleared and the temperature had dropped by the time I headed over to the Sugar Bottom area for riding. Unfortunatly the trails were too wet for riding, so the ride had to get scrapped. Not the worst thing in the world, I think I will just try to get the Iowa ride in on the return trip. For now it is Chicago, and tomorrow it is New Jersey.

6 Day CSU and Nebraska

Got some nice riding in the past two days. Sunday included a quick trip up to the Foothills Trail to the west of Fort Collins, in hopes of starting to get used to what will become my local trails. Despite Saturdays race still being felt in my lungs, the legs felt decent, and I pedaled around any trail I came across, enjoying the good life. Followed it all up by heading down to the CSU Oval for the 6 Day Style Racing at the Oval put on by the CSU cycling team. Fort Collins is trying to get a velodrome in town, and until that happens, the fine kiddies at CSU use the main oval at campus to put on a 6 race series on Sunday evenings in May and June.

There was a scratch race (first across the line wins after the designated number of laps), miss and out (with each lap completed the last rider across the line gets pulled, until you have a winner), and a snowball (set number of laps, where the first and second riders across the line get points, with each subsequent lap the number of points up for grabs keeps going up). I raced in the messenger class on the CX bike, and had a blast. The best was the snowball race, where on the fourth of eight laps me and a guy from CSU got a gap. We agreed to work together, one of us could sit on for a lap, but couldnt contest the sprint, then we would switch positions. By the last lapped he told me he was cooked, and couldnt contest the final sprint. I took the big W and combined with two seconds in the previous two races walked away with some big bills ($9.60) in the pocket. More importantly than the green, the race was fun, and a good gathering event for the local cycling community.

Today included a MTB ride in Nebraska, which was fucking awesome. So what if Nebraska has no mountains, they got some serious trails over in the eastern part of the state. At first I didnt think i was in for a good ride due to the high temps (90 degrees) high humidity (must have been above 75), and high winds (holding steady around 45 mph or so). But once I got in the trees of the state park, all seemed well, and I just ripped around on the trails for a while. These are the kinds of trails that when you ride them, you realize that someone decided, "we dont have a lot of space for mtb trails, so lets make the most about possible in this area". The entire trail network probably took up less than a few square miles, but I was able to ride for close to an hour and half. I know I'm a shitty photographer, so if the pictures don't make sense, just take my word for it, Nebraska has some good MTB. Tomorrow, got plans for Iowa MTB, then an evening of annoying my sister.

Hidden in those trees, are miles of trail

Lots of quick downs then quick ups, many with banked turns

Perched above on one trail, I see another trails that I would ride in 15 minutes.

Take your pick of difficulty level

Can you really go wrong with a trail named "the tooth gap"?

First MTB race

Got the housing situation all figured out on Friday, which mean that on Saturday I was able to head on up to Wyoming for a local MTB race. Six of us met at New Belgium, loaded the trailer, and made our way to the land of the wind for the Gowdy Grinder XC race. This would be my baptism by fire into the Fort Collins/Boulder/Denver/Laramie racing scene, I know the pond is much bigger than up in Montana, and I was interested to see what size fish I was. 61 of us lined up for the start of the pro/expert race, with a fair amount of us on singlespeeds. Normally I don't mind racing against geared folks, as long as the singlespeeders are kept track of seperately, but that would not be the case here. The flyer had reminded us that "singlespeeds are a type of bike, not a class", but when the entry fee is 10 bucks, there is no point in getting mad.

Someone said go, and we were off, a nice long climb into a head wind was the first challenge of the day. I settled into whatever you could call a grove or rhythm, and just started to ride. The unfamiliar burn in my windpipes and lungs that can only come from racing, reminded me that riding hard by yourself is no substitute for true racing. Anyway, the course was top shelf lot of rocks to get in the way, and keep you on your toes, and mud to play in. Heading into the final lap I was probably in about 15th place, then some shitty descending combined with a dropped chain dropped me to 20th before all was said and done. If I had to guess I was probably fourth for the SS gang, but they werent keeping track, so I guess I'll never know.

Post race, the combination of high altitude, heaving winds with plenty of dust blowing, and a dusty course gave the a wonderful smokers cough. Luckily the legs feel pretty descent, and I plan to head on over to the 6 day style race today at the CSU oval, to stretch the legs and lungs out again. After that it is on to the humid pastures of the northeast, although I do have plans for some riding in Nebraska and Iowa along the way. I will bring the camera for these rides, sorry for having no pictures of the Gowdy race. Other highlights include annoying my sister for an evening by sucking down Olde Styles and Chicago dogs on her couch, before she even gets home from work.

Grab a Beer and Watch It All Burn

That's basically what I have been doing for the past day with the whole Floyd/Lance/Johna/George/Levi/Zabriske/Lim fiasco that has been going down for the past 36 hours. The odd part is, was that while at Mule Headquarters Tuesday night, self, EMule, and Mulie, were chatting about Floyd and doping. Turned out that was foreshadowing for Wednesday night when Floyd first hinted that he was going to set the world on fire. Yesterday's bombshell that rocked the cycling world was the equivalent of the Kennedy assassination for cyclist, meaning we will always remember where we were when we heard the news. I was driving to a coffee bar in Fort Collins, listening to Mike and Mike on ESPNRadio (this might be what I am most excited about regarding my move to Fort Collins, there is sports radio, with blowhards repeating the same point four hours at a time, I love it), and they were comparing him to Jose Canseco, and wondering if Floyd should be considered a whistleblower or not.

My take, both Floyd and Jose were motivated by money, attention, and settling a score. They can say what they will about wanting to clean up the sport, and expose frauds, thats bullshit, like a eighteen year old girl at her first college party, they want as much attention as possible, and it has work. I loathe Floyd because he ruined competitive road cycling for me, after his positive, I lost all faith that anyone was clean, threw up my hands, and said, "Fuck it". I still think he is a snake in the grass bastard, and that his motivation is all wrong, but I must thank him for doing what he did. If Lance, Levi, George, Zabriske cheated for sustained periods of time in the past, and still continue to do so today, they should be punished, hopefully by allowing all the ameteur racers stone them as they are forced to race a crit.

It is times like this that I wish I had the combination of BikeSnob's ability to write, Big Jonny's two years worth of law school knowledge, and Snake's race history (which involves a lot of top level domestic racing, and getting fucked over by the Floyd at the 2007 Leadville) so that I could write something that is not only better, but has a much more solid foundation. Alas that is not the case, and like the idiots who were calling into the sports radio shows I listened to yesterday, I just come off as another idiot with an opinion. All I know is that I love bikes, and if those guys actually have to dope just to keep their jobs, just be honest with us. Don't pull the whole, "I've always been clean, and am proof that you can win without drugs", then get popped for doping. Just look at Rafael Palmerio to see what will happen in that situation. With all the articles that have been written about this clusterfuck, I suggest taking a look at this article by Adam Myerson, it is the best thing I have read so far. No doubt this is going to drag on for a while, so grab yourself a drink, and just watch everything burn to the ground.

Fort Collins

I have made it here, and its time to find me a spot to live, and the check out the local trails. Despite what you may think about me and my priorities, I am putting riding the bike second, trails remain longer than rooms for rent on craigslist. Last night I was informed of the website, yourgroupride which is the all things bikes site here in Fort Collins. From the looks of it this place just has races, rides, and events going on all the time, and it all goes on big time. I'm talking 240 people showing up to race at a Wednesday night short track event, six day style events at the CSU oval, bike shops that also serve up coffee and sandwichs. Oh yeah, and everything seems to be fueled by the fine folks over at New Belgium, which I can really dig. So we'll see what I can find, and see if I can get some riding in while I'm in town too.

Aside from that you've probably heard about Floyd letting the other shoe drop. It's a big enough news story that ESPN Radios Mike and Mike were asking callers to chime in with their thoughts about Floyd. If what he is saying is true (and I bet it is), then punish all those involved. Floyd better start paying back all the humble cycling folks who contributed to his legal fund back in 2006 and 2007, and I want a fucking refund for buying his stupid book which might have been written by a sixth grader. Greg LeMond gets a public apology from everyone, David Walsh gets to give the finger to all his doubters, and hopefully Armstrong will go back to Texas and stay there. George W. Bush has done few things right in the past ten years, but once we booted his ass out of DC he went back to Texas and has kept his mouth shut. Armstrong should do the same, the two can just go ride mountain bikes on their ranches together, talking about how Shiner Bock is the greatest beer on the planet. I just hope this entire explosion gets taken care of quickly, and doesnt get dragged along.

I Miss Me Some Giro

I havent been able to really follow what has been going on with the Giro this year due to a combination of reasons. I don't have VS on the BoobTube at home, don't know what the online viewing situation is, and following my bitterness leftover from the 2006 and 2007 Grand Tours I have told myself to never put too much stock in Pro Tour stage races. My apologies to all of you who would rather follow the Tour of California than the Giro, but you are a fucking idiot. Following Cali is like watching the first round of the NCAA Final Four to see the number one seed beat up on the number sixteen seed, sorry that just aint for me.

Anyway I had been out on following grand tours closely, then Stage 7 of this years Giro takes place, and I am kicking myself in the ass for not following the Giro closer. That one looked like one for the ages (I would use the "e" word, but I'm afraid Specialized might sue me demanding my first born as part of the settlement), with all the necessary drama and suffering to keep the spectators happy. Pissing rain, steep climbs, and unpaved roads are a trifecta of greatness when you are following a bike race, and I wish I had been plopped down somewhere with a Stella watching that one.

While I do hate the fact that Vino is back racing for a ProTour team, that dude can always make a race more exciting. Hey at least when he wears the pink jersey he has to piss in a cup at the end of the day. Evans looks to be doing the rainbow jersey proud, which I dig, that is a jersey that should always be on the soulders of someone who actually gives a shit and wants to win. I stumbled across an article over at the Times about how the Italians are started to get mad about the fact that no Italian has won a stage yet. Translate that from English to Italian and put it in the hands of Pozzato, then show him the scenes from the Godfather where Michael just lays waste and kills all his competition, explaining to him he needs to represent the tri colore on his back, hopefully that will get him motivated to win a stage.

Enough of that, on the life front, I got me a trip coming up. Heading out tomorrow to try to find me a place to live in Fort Collins. Got a stop in Bozeman to see, ride, and party with some Mules on the way. From there, headed to see the family and friends, with plans for lots of MTB east coast style, and some midwest riding along the way to keep me occupied. Then head on back to get everything all packed and cleaned before making the move. Stories from the road will be shared.

Cobwebs

The cobwebs are still cluttering the brain, the reaction time is longer, the equilibrium is a little off, ah the remnants of a Thursday night at a bar. Tragically it is that time of year when the sun is showing up earlier in the day, filling the bedroom with light, and waking me up earlier than I would prefer. The end result, the cobwebs are still on the brain while I am awake, not the worst thing in the world, and hey at least the sun is shinning. Bike wise, the Montana MTB race season will be kicked off on Saturday in Helena. I will not be there, as people still need to be counted, and I do not want to let Uncle Sam down. Once again, not the worst thing in the world, I can still ride in Missoula, and not have to deal with things like USA Cycling waivers, number plates, and writing checks. Say what you will and think what you'll think, I think this is the best time to be in Missoula riding bikes. Still some snow in your sights up on the mountains, lots of daylight, warm temperatures, buff trails, and no smoke in the air. So yeah, that's what I will be doing for the next few days before my next trip on the cosmic wave of life, riding mountain bikes and enjoying Missoula.