Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue

Something Old:
Last week was chalked full and passed in a blur. A lot had happened and a lot continued to happen; until tonight. I am sitting at home pretty tired and trying to contain a head cold. So it seems like weblogging is as good a pass time right now as any.

Last Saturday afternoon, I loaded all my camping and racing stuff into my friend John’s car and drove to Las Cruces for the collegiate mountain bike season opener, the Horny Toad Hustle. After hustling into the slow moving traffic outside the NMSU football stadium, John, Lawrence (drove separately), and I picked up our race packets 10 minutes prior to the closing of packet pick-up. Shortly after leaving packet pick-up, the blue skies turned dark grey and the buckets of rain were dropped on the city. So, the officers exercised their power, and we passed on camping and stayed in a hotel. Race day arrived with blue skies and dry trails. The raced marked the 1st of 4 high desert races. Long story short, I underestimated the course, rode sloppy, and after going back and forth with the eventual second place finisher, held it together for 3rd.

Tuesday night I attended a cyclocross race in Pine Flats (south of Tijeras). The race was low profile but still had a solid field. The course was non-traditional but ridiculously awesome. Each long lap, had tons of climbing, a few killer run-ups, pine needles, gravel, pavement, loose dirt, grass, logs, rocks, single track, double track, road, fire roads, etc., etc., etc. Basically, the best cyclocross course ever ridden. Thanks Ethan; I left with a perma-grin. I don’t know where I placed, but I do know that I took the holeshot. I hit the first part of the course with too much speed and rode over some really big rocks, really fast and decided to go hard from there. Eventually, I was passed but managed to chase back on to the lead group. Shortly after, we turned onto the really long paved descent. There my singlespeed and I spun out. The final highlight came when I sprinted with young Jonah. This kid is incredible. He is hardly tall enough to carry his bike over the barriers but is all heart. Cool.

Something New:
Last night, minutes after getting my Marmot Eos 1P delivered, I drove to Gallup to meet John, Nick (who, being twins are indistinguishable in the dark), and Graham (up from AZ). After camping out, we raced a really non-technical course that was actually fun, despite the fact that I did 95% of the race locked-out. However, I was doing okay until snapping my chain with about 8, of 30-some, miles to go. After losing lots of time I managed to pass about ½ the people that passed me. Still, I was disappointed. At any rate, all is not lost. Thanks to the rest of the team and their awesome racing, UNM leads the points omnium for the South West Collegiate Cycling Conference (SWCCC). Awesome. Hopefully, I can manage a better race in two weeks in Phoenix. After the race, Graham and I grabbed a bite to eat. It was good to catch up with him. Look forward to racing him in Phoenix.

Something Borrowed:
Last week’s cold snap did three things for me. First, it got me stoked for cross season and some fall hiking and camping. Second, it gave me this cold. Finally, it reminded me of this article by BikeSnobNYC.

Something Blue:
It doesn’t get much bluer than this or this; who can say?