Kelso O'Cup

Ok.... so remember i said that Old People don't recover the same as we used to?... so that was Kelso... i was feeling pretty good (tempo was fine, hours were fine) but i wasn't fully recovered from the block before Nationals... and today was the day that it it me...

right from the start up the gravel road climb, i was struggling to keep with the other guys, and just couldn't lay down the power on the flats... which is something that you need to do at Kelso. Finally took the lead of the front group and got taken out when passing someone, and just couldn't bridge the gap to get back on. So i rode as hard as i could, but finished up in 3rd.... not bad but my worst finish in over 2 years... time to rest....

thanks to Emily Batty for this wonderful picture of the podium.... i'm the ant on the right....

a consoling Man-Hug from Adam Morka after the race... sometimes i just need to be held....

Adam ended up winning the race, Eric finished 2nd with a significant crash (i feel sorry for the ground) and Peter finished up 3rd.... Good Work Team....

Is this a good idea?

in an attempt to be cheap...

"hey sue.... can you cut my hair? Naw... it's not hard.... you'll do fine"....

Doesn't build confidence....

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.....

I remember a SNL Skip about this.... "He's putting tinfoil in the microwave!!!! And now he's letting his girlfriend CUT HIS HAIR!!!".....

Birthday Boys Turns 7!!!

so yeah.... my kids have close birthdays..... worked for a while having 1 party but now they're on to us..... so Luke turned 7 today.... man how time flies....

notice the Baskin Robbins Death By Chocolate Ice Cream Cake with milk in the beer glass...

"so luke.... what do you want to do for your birthday?"..... "well.... can we go to that indoor bike park (Joyride 150) you have been talking about?" .... i did something right....

spent 3.5 hours riding at Joyride.... XC loop, both pump tracks, beginner jump line, beginner skinnies and learning area.... only had 4 crashes.... the worst of which was Luke riding off the 4' edge of the platform BESIDE the ramp.... oops....

yes... i'm a bad daddy for not taking pictures while we were there... this is the best we got!!!

Thanks for Mark and Jeremy for a great time....

Birthday Boy turns 5!!

so today was Jake's 5th birthday..... seems like just yesterday that i was spending hours in the car at midnight trying to get him to sleep through his colic.....

"so Jake.... what do you want to do on your birthday?".... "i'd like to go biking in the forest".... that's my boy....

"How about we also give you your first endo-land-on-a-log-with-your-face-and-chest crash also? sound like fun?!?!?!?"

he's okay... only cried for a minute... but got some sympathy from the girls in the parking lot....

How did we do this?

so i got an extra set of mtb wheels.... just trying to save the Race Rubber and avoid the 3-day-forearm-pump from changing tubeless tires... the only problem with them is that they are tubed wheels.... should be fine for training wheels, right? Well, i've had 3 flats with them in 4 rides.... how did we actually race on these things? Glad i don't train at Tremblant.....

Contador vs. Schleck

so the TdF is done... and a good one it was....

i love to watch some good road battles... not so much in the sprinting but when the road tips up and the guys start to suffer.... that's what they get paid the big bucks for...

a few contraversies this year though... a bit of back luck for Lance.... and a unmannerly timed attack from Contador..... makes me dislike him even more....

i'd LOVE to see Schleck get his time.... classy guy all around...

Props go out to Ryder..... i remember warming up beside him at a Canada Cup in Canmore.... a long way he has come....

Represent!!!!

The (Bad) luck continues...

so this year... so far ... has been less than stellar... i had nothing but good luck last year... and it has been catching up with me this year....

my list of mishaps:

- bent dereilleur at first O'Cup

- double flat at Tremblant C'Cup

- broken bone in my wrist from a crash atBuckwallow O'Cup

- crashed and got a concussion at Nationals in Canmore

- lots of flats in training lately.... just a pain....

- wrote off my car in an accident on the 401 last week... kids and i are okay though....

1 week left until provs.... had some good rest and not just need to hit the high end a few times.... and then it's time for some fun rides and getting into 'cross....

my fingers are crossed....

Ripple Effect....

okay.. so it's been a couple weeks since falling in my head.... and although i'm back to (as) normal (as i get).... things are still dragging on....

things still to deal with:

- buy a new Polar Strap since the nurse who undressed me (hmmm) did not pass it along to anyone i know...

- need to have a 3rd dentist appointment to fix the broken tooth the was a result of the crash..... chipped, cracked, capped, and adjusted twice already....

- just got a letter from the Canmore Medical Center.... $335 for an ambulance ride from Canmore to Calgary..... and all i did was sleep in there!!!!

what a pain.... still!!!!